JP6524557B2 - Buckwheat quality evaluation method, quality evaluation device and quality evaluation / sorting system - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an evaluation method and a quality evaluation apparatus for evaluating the quality of buckwheat seed (hereinafter simply referred to as "buckwheat"), and a quality evaluation / sorting system.

  As described in Patent Documents 1 and 2, as a method for evaluating the quality such as freshness and flavor of grains, etc., the sample to be evaluated is irradiated with excitation light, and the wavelength of the excitation fluorescence from the sample and its intensity The method used as an index of quality evaluation is known.

  In Patent Document 1, when lignin and phenol compounds contained in fruits and vegetables and grains emit strong fluorescence due to ultraviolet irradiation, the fruits and vegetables are oxidized and oxidation products are accumulated or the fluorescence intensity decreases or fluorescence is reduced. The quality of perishables and grains is evaluated nondestructively, focusing on the phenomenon that causes an increase in strength.

  In Patent Document 2, the fluorescence emitted from the sample by the irradiation of the excitation light is imaged by the imaging means, and the fluorescence intensity of the sample is used as an index based on the correlation between the fluorescence intensity of the sample and the quality of the sample. The quality is measured.

Patent No. 3878782 JP, 2005-227183, A

  Here, with regard to buckwheat, since cross-pollination is likely to cause differences in quality compared to cereals of self-pollination such as wheat and rice, it is desirable that the quality can be evaluated with high accuracy according to objective evaluation criteria . For example, there is a gap between the grade of buckwheat agricultural produce inspection standard by the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries and the quality evaluation of the market (the real customer). In addition, it has not been clarified what kind of index is specifically based on buckwheat evaluation criteria, for example, buckwheat evaluation criteria at a milling company. For this reason, a proper quality evaluation method for buckwheat is strongly desired, and since there is a large variation in quality even for single grains, it is desirable to evaluate the quality for each single grain and continuously sort out It is also.

  Moreover, the evaluation method using the conventional excitation fluorescence, for example, the method disclosed in Patent Document 1, focuses on the fluorescence due to ultraviolet irradiation excited by lignin contained in fruits and vegetables and grains, and a phenol compound. However, it is impossible to apply such an index to evaluation of buckwheat as it is, particularly to evaluation of buckwheat noodles to perform quality evaluation. Furthermore, in Patent Document 1, although a plurality of samples are measured simultaneously, a method for measuring individual samples is not shown.

  Patent Document 2 mentions that the quality of a sample is measured using the measured fluorescence intensity as an index based on the correlation between the fluorescence intensity of the sample and the quality of the sample, but specific index is presented It has not been. Next, Patent Document 2 states that a grain group and a single grain can be respectively measured, but a method capable of continuously measuring a single grain is not shown.

  The object of the present invention is, in view of such a point, a method of evaluating quality of unrefined buckwheat and unrounded buckwheat using excited fluorescence, and in particular, evaluating quality continuously for each single particle using excited fluorescence To propose a way to

  Another object of the present invention is to provide a buckwheat quality evaluation apparatus using such a new quality evaluation method and a buckwheat quality evaluation / sorting system, in particular, buckwheat that can appropriately sort buckwheat using the quality evaluation apparatus. It is to provide a quality evaluation and sorting system for buckwheat that can be sorted properly and continuously for each single grain.

In order to solve the above problems, the quality evaluation method of buckwheat of the present invention is
The buckwheat to be evaluated is irradiated with excitation light to generate fluorescence,
The fluorescence is spectrally analyzed to determine the amount of fluorescence in a predetermined wavelength band as a measurement value for quality evaluation,
It is characterized in that the quality of the buckwheat is evaluated by comparing the measured value with a reference value representing a quality evaluation standard of the buckwheat set in advance.

  In the present invention, when the buckwheat is uncooked buckwheat, a fluorescence amount having a predetermined correlation with at least one of the peel specific gravity, the peel weight and the peel ratio indicating the solidity of the peel is adopted as the reference value. Can. A reference value corresponding to the degree of richness may be obtained in advance by measuring the amount of fluorescence obtained by irradiating excitation light to the soba with a known degree of richness.

  For example, as the reference value and the measurement value, the amount of fluorescence in the wavelength band of 500 to 640 nm in violet laser excitation fluorescence can be used.

  The inventor examined the relationship between the quality evaluation of buckwheat and the amount of fluorescence by a flour milling company etc., and confirmed that the higher the quality evaluation of Genbuckwheat, the thicker the peel. In addition, the relationship between the specific gravity of the peel, the peel weight, the peel rate and the peel volume, and the quality evaluation of the buckwheat, the higher the evaluation, the higher the specific gravity of the peel, the peel weight and the peel rate. confirmed. That is, it was confirmed that the quality of the peel was reflected in the evaluation of Gen buckwheat. Based on this, the present inventor has found that, for example, in the case of violet laser excitation fluorescence, it is possible to use the amount of fluorescence in the wavelength band of 500 to 640 nm as an index by which the quality of buckwheat can be evaluated. In addition, the present inventor has confirmed that the quality of the buckwheat can be appropriately evaluated using the index, as in the market evaluation.

  In the present invention, when the buckwheat is dehulled by removing the peel, as the measured value and the reference value, the crude protein content of the seed coat that changes according to the viscosity of the buckwheat, and the seed coat that changes according to the freshness of the buckwheat The amount of fluorescence having a predetermined correlation with the chlorophyll content of Also, in advance, the amount of fluorescence obtained by irradiating excitation light to a rounding-down buckwheat whose viscosity and freshness are known is measured, and a first reference value corresponding to viscosity and a first reference value corresponding to freshness are measured as reference values. 2 You may find the reference value. Further, as the measurement values, a first measurement value representing the tenacity obtained from the circled buckwheat to be evaluated and a second measurement value representing freshness are determined, and these first and second measurement values are respectively determined The quality of the round buckwheat can be evaluated in comparison with 2 reference values.

  For example, as the first reference value and the first measurement value, it is desirable to use the amount of fluorescence in a wavelength band including 500 nm in violet laser excitation fluorescence. Moreover, it is desirable to use the fluorescence amount of the wavelength range containing 680 nm in purple laser excitation fluorescence as a 2nd reference value and a 2nd measured value.

The inventors of the present invention have confirmed that the higher the quality evaluation of the round buckwheat, the higher the crude protein-derived fluorescence and the higher the chlorophyll-derived fluorescence, as the excitation fluorescence characteristics of the seed coat of the buckwheat surface of the round buckwheat. Moreover, it was confirmed that the higher the crude protein-derived fluorescence, the thicker and rich the seed coat and the softer the buckwheat, and the higher the chlorophyll-derived fluorescence, the fresher the buckwheat. Based on this, the inventor of the present invention, for example, in the case of purple laser excitation fluorescence as an index for evaluating the quality of round buckwheat, the amount of fluorescence in the wavelength band including 500 nm that is the crude protein-derived fluorescence and its chlorophyll-derived It has been found that it is possible to use fluorescence in a wavelength band including 680 nm which is fluorescence. In addition, the inventor has confirmed that the quality evaluation of the round buckwheat can be appropriately performed using these two indexes, as in the market evaluation.

Next, the present invention is a buckwheat quality evaluation apparatus for carrying out the above method,
A placement unit on which the buckwheat to be evaluated is placed;
An excitation light source,
An irradiation optical system for guiding excitation light from the excitation light source and irradiating the buckwheat placed on the placement unit;
A light receiving optical system for receiving and guiding fluorescence emitted from the buckwheat;
A spectroscope which receives and disperses the fluorescence through the light receiving optical system;
And a spectral data processing unit that performs spectral data processing based on the spectral result by the spectrometer and performs quality evaluation of the buckwheat,
The spectral data processing unit spectrally analyzes the fluorescence to calculate the amount of fluorescence in a predetermined wavelength band as a measurement value for quality evaluation;
It is characterized by comprising a function of evaluating the quality of the grain by comparing the measured value with a reference value representing a quality evaluation standard of the buckwheat set in advance.

  Here, the buckwheat quality evaluation apparatus of this configuration is provided with a sorting apparatus for sorting buckwheat after quality evaluation has been performed by the quality evaluation apparatus according to the rated quality grade, so that buckwheat can be classified by grade. Can build a quality evaluation and sorting system that can sort out

  In this case, it is possible to arrange a transport mechanism that transports buckwheat to be evaluated one by one along the transport path passing through the mounting portion (evaluation position) of the quality evaluation device. In this way, buckwheat can be sorted by grade with high accuracy, and it is possible to reliably sort and remove degraded seeds and foreign substances, which is preferable.

  In addition, as the sorting device, a wind force sorting mechanism can be used which sorts the buckwheat passing through the transport path portion downstream of the placement portion (evaluation position) in the transport path in different directions according to the quality grade.

It is explanatory drawing which shows an example of a purple laser excitation fluorescence measurement system. It is explanatory drawing which shows the acquisition procedure of purple laser excitation fluorescence. It is a graph which shows the comparison result according to evaluation of purple laser excitation fluorescence in Xuan buckwheat. It is a graph which shows the part of the purple laser excitation fluorescence spectrum used for quality evaluation of Xuan buckwheat. It is a graph which shows the characteristic of fluorescence of a round buckwheat surface (seed coat). It is explanatory drawing which shows the quality evaluation by the fluorescence of the round buckwheat seed coat by purple laser excitation fluorescence. It is a schematic block diagram which shows an example of the quality evaluation and sorting system of buckwheat. FIG. 8 is a schematic perspective view showing the transport of the system of FIG. 7; FIG. 8 is a schematic plan and cross-sectional view of the hopper portion of the system of FIG. 7; It is a schematic plan view which shows the classification | selection part of the system of FIG.

[Indicator used for quality evaluation of buckwheat]
The present inventors examine the trait that is the evaluation standard of the quality evaluation of buckwheat in the market (milling company), and perform the quality evaluation of the buckwheat reflecting the quality evaluation in the market based on the excitation fluorescence by experiment. The indicator of the case was found and its validity was verified.

(sample)
In the experiment, a plurality of different types of buckwheat with different evaluations by a milling company were used. Among the six types of buckwheat are shown below.

(Purple laser excitation fluorescence measurement system)
A violet laser-induced fluorescence (V-LIF) measurement system was used for excitation fluorescence analysis of buckwheat.

  FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration view showing a violet laser excitation fluorescence measurement system (hereinafter, referred to as “V-LIF measurement system”). The V-LIF measurement system 1 includes a dark box 2 for containing a sample to be measured (buckwheat 10) and an irradiation optical system 4 for guiding and irradiating excitation light from the excitation light source 3 to the sample placed in the dark box 2 ing. Further, the spectral data obtained from the light receiving optical system 7 for guiding the fluorescence emitted from the sample soba 10 to the spectroscope 6 through the short wavelength cut filter 5 by irradiating the excitation light and the spectral data obtained from the spectroscope 6 are processed. A data processing unit 8 mainly configured of a personal computer that calculates fluorescence spectrum analysis, fluorescence amount (fluorescence intensity) and the like is provided.

  The excitation light used is a violet continuous wave laser (wavelength 405 nm). The upstream irradiation light path of the irradiation optical system 4 is a 0.66 mm diameter quartz optical fiber 9a. The downstream irradiation light path of the irradiation optical system 4 and the upstream light reception optical path of the light receiving optical system 7 are formed by a 1.1 mm diameter coaxial quartz optical fiber 9 b. The downstream light receiving optical path of the light receiving optical system 7 is a quartz optical fiber 9 c having a diameter of 0.9 mm. The short wavelength cut filter 5 passes only the fluorescent component of the wavelength of 470 nm or more. The specifications of the equipment used for each part are as follows.

(Used equipment)
Excitation light source: Purple Continuous Wave laser Power supply for laser: SUP-60M (manufactured by Audio-Technica Co., Ltd.)
Laser module: SU-61C-405-40
(Wavelength 405 nm, continuous output 27 mW / cm ² , Audio Technica Co., Ltd.)
Multi-channel spectrometer: PMA-11 (made by Hamamatsu Photonics KK)
Short wavelength cut filter: LVX470 (manufactured by Asahi Spectroscopic Co., Ltd.)

(V-LIF acquisition procedure)
FIG. 2 is an explanatory view showing a procedure for acquiring V-LIF of buckwheat. As shown in FIG. 2 (a), as the sample buckwheat, for each of the six types of samples described above, the uncooked uncooked buckwheat 10A, the unrounded buckwheat 10B from which the peel has been removed and the unrounded buckwheat powder Buckwheat flour 10C was prepared. Peeling was performed using a commercially available buckwheat huller, and in order to obtain buckwheat flour 10C, the round buckwheat buckwheat 10B was crushed using a food processor IFM-700G (manufactured by IWATANI) for about 30 seconds. Excitation fluorescence was immediately obtained from the obtained buckwheat flour 10C.

Each sample was put into the non-fluorescent cell 11 as shown in FIG. 2 (b). In this state, as shown in FIG.
As shown to (c), it mounted in the base 12 currently installed in the dark box 2. As shown in FIG. While rotating the pedestal 12 about the rotation axis 12 a by a rotation mechanism (not shown), the sample was irradiated with a violet laser which is excitation light to obtain excitation fluorescence.

(Measurement result)
FIG. 3 is a graph showing the measurement results of the wavelength spectra of V-LIF in six types of buckwheat (excellent, good, fair, and upper, middle and lower in evaluation), and their round-cut buckwheat and buckwheat flour .

  The present inventors measured V-LIF, the total polyphenol content of the peel, the thickness of the peel, the solidity of the peel (specific gravity, peel weight, peel rate, peel volume), crude protein for buckwheat with different evaluations. We verified and discussed the relationship between the content and so on and the evaluation. As a result, the following points were confirmed.

(Relationship between peel and quality: quality evaluation by V-LIF in ginseng)
(1) Soft flour has a high crude protein content (cotyles and a large amount of seed coat).
(2) The soft and tasty powder has a large cavity and a thick seed coat.
(3) If the seed coat is thick, the peel is thick and fresh.
(4) The thickness of the skin is reflected in the evaluation of the buckwheat by the market.
(5) Buckwheat seeds with thick skin are high in quality, and it is appropriate to distinguish buckwheat quality from the skin.
(6) With the amount of fluorescence in the band of 500 nm to 640 nm in V-LIF of unrefined buckwheat, the quality of unrefined buckwheat can be evaluated, and the smaller the amount of fluorescence, the higher the quality.

(Relationship between seed coat and quality: Quality evaluation by V-LIF in round buckwheat)
(1) High-price buckwheat protein-derived fluorescence (a band including a wavelength of 500 nm) is high (seed coat is substantial).
(2) High-price buckwheat chlorophyll-derived fluorescence (band including wavelength 680 nm) is high (fresh).
(3) Buckwheat seeds with many crude protein of seed coat are soft and high quality.
(4) Buckwheat seeds with many chlorophyll in the seed coat are fresh and high quality.
(5) It is appropriate to identify buckwheat quality with seed coats.
(6) Based on the fluorescence amount of the protein-derived fluorescent component in V-LIF of the uncut buckwheat and the fluorescent amount of the chlorophyll-derived fluorescent component, the quality of the unmarked buckwheat can be evaluated. is there.

(Example of a specific quality evaluation method: quality evaluation of Gen buckwheat)
As shown to Fig.4 (a), it was confirmed about the V-LIF in gypsum buckwheat that the fluorescence amount of a 500 nm-640 nm wavelength band reflects the order of evaluation of a flour milling company. That is, it was confirmed that the amount of fluorescence in the wavelength band of 500 nm to 640 nm tends to decrease as the evaluation by the flour milling company increases.

  Therefore, as shown in FIG. 4B, the quality evaluation of the buckwheat can be performed based on the fluorescence amount in the wavelength band of 500 nm to 640 nm.

  As shown in FIG. 4 (b), the amount of fluorescence in the wavelength band of 500 nm to 640 nm of V-LIF in a large number of types of gen buckwheat whose quality evaluation has been determined is measured, for example, as a reference value indicating a quality evaluation standard. Three types of standard values are prepared in advance to sort out products that have "excellent", "good", and "good" quality. In the actual quality evaluation, the quality can be evaluated in four stages (excellent, good, acceptable, unacceptable) by comparing these reference values with the measurement values obtained from the evaluated buckwheat.

(Example of specific quality evaluation method: Quality evaluation of round buckwheat)
FIG. 5 is a graph showing the fluorescence characteristics of the round buckwheat surface (seed coat) of each sample. In the graph, the horizontal axis represents the amount of fluorescence at a wavelength of 500 nm, which is crude protein-derived fluorescence, and the vertical axis represents the amount of fluorescence at a wavelength of 680 nm, which is chlorophyll PSII-derived fluorescence. As can be seen from this graph, the higher the rank of the evaluation, the more the crude protein-derived fluorescence and the chlorophyll PSII-derived fluorescence.

  Therefore, based on the amount of fluorescence in the band including the wavelength of 680 nm and the amount of fluorescence in the band including the wavelength of 500 nm, it is possible to perform the quality evaluation of the rounding off as shown in FIG.

  FIG. 6: is explanatory drawing which shows the quality evaluation by fluorescence of the round buckwheat seed coat by V-LIF. As shown in this figure, when the amount of fluorescence in both wavelength bands of 680 nm and 500 nm is large (when both chlorophyll and protein are both), it is high quality with high freshness, softness and flavor (FIG. 6 When the amount of fluorescence in the wavelength band of 500 nm is large (when there is a large amount of crude protein), it is soft and tastes good and good quality (the single circle in the lower right of the figure is marked). Region), when there is a large amount of fluorescence in the wavelength band of 680 nm (if there is a large amount of chlorophyll), it is medium quality with high freshness but little stickiness (region with triangle in the upper left of the figure) When the amount of fluorescence is low (when both chlorophyll and protein are low), it can be sorted out as low in freshness and poor in viscosity and flavor (lower marked area in the lower left of the figure).

  Also in this case, the amount of fluorescence in both wavelength bands of 680 nm and 500 nm is measured for a number of types of round-shaped buckwheat whose quality evaluation has been determined in advance, and a reference value used for quality evaluation is determined. For example, a first reference value is defined as the amount of fluorescence in the wavelength 680 nm band, and a second reference value is defined as the amount of fluorescence in the wavelength 500 nm band. In the actual quality evaluation, the amount of fluorescence in the wavelength band of 680 nm obtained from the round buckwheat is obtained as a first measurement value, and this is compared with a first reference value. Similarly, the amount of fluorescence in the wavelength band of 500 nm is obtained as a second measurement value, and this is compared with a second reference value. Based on the comparison result, the round buckwheat can be evaluated in four stages as shown in FIG.

[Example of buckwheat quality evaluation and sorting system]
FIG. 7 is a schematic block diagram showing an example of a buckwheat quality evaluation / sorting system to which the present invention is applied. The buckwheat quality evaluation / sorting system 20 (hereinafter sometimes referred to simply as “system 20”) is, for example, a table-top type system, and is a quality evaluation device 30 for evaluating buckwheat quality by purple laser excitation fluorescence measurement. And transport sorting device 50 for transporting buckwheat to be sorted via evaluation position 31 by quality evaluation device 30, and sorting buckwheat after quality evaluation is performed, based on the evaluated quality grade, and quality evaluation A control panel 80 which controls the apparatus 30 and the transport sorting apparatus 50 is provided.

  The basic configuration of the quality evaluation apparatus 30 is the same as that of the V-LIF measurement system 1 shown in FIG. 1, and a laser generator 32 that generates a violet CW laser as excitation light and guidance light passing through the evaluation position 31 The irradiation optical system 33 for irradiating the buckwheat, the light receiving optical system 34 for receiving and guiding the fluorescence emitted from the buckwheat, the spectroscope 35 for dispersing the fluorescence received through the light receiving optical system 34, and the spectral result by the spectroscope 35 A spectral data processing unit 36 that performs spectral data processing and performs quality evaluation of buckwheat is provided.

The spectral data processing unit 36 is a function implemented by a personal computer that forms the center of the control panel 80. The spectral data processing unit 36 performs a spectral analysis of the measured fluorescence to calculate a fluorescence amount in a predetermined wavelength band as a measurement value for quality evaluation, and a measurement value function in which the measurement value is preset. And the evaluation function to determine the quality grade of buckwheat as compared with the reference value that represents the quality evaluation standard of

  The transport sorting device 50 includes a transport unit 50A and a sorting unit 50B. The transport unit 50A includes a hopper 51 into which the evaluation target buckwheat 10 is loaded, and transports the buckwheat 10 loaded into the hopper 51 one by one along the transport path 52 passing through the evaluation position 31 of the quality evaluation apparatus 30. . After passing through the evaluation position 31, the buckwheat 10 drops from the downstream end of the transport path 52 to the sorting position 54 of the sorting unit 50B. The sorting unit 50B includes a wind-powered sorting mechanism that wind-sorts buckwheat that falls to the sorting position 54 in different directions according to the quality grade, and collects the sorted buckwheat in the recovery units 56a to 56d.

  FIG. 8 is a schematic perspective view showing the transport unit 50A. FIGS. 9A and 9B are a schematic plan view and a schematic sectional view showing the hopper portion of the transport unit 50A. Referring to these drawings as well, the hopper 51 of the transport unit 50A includes left and right guide plates 61 and 62 that are spread to the left and right toward the upper side. Between the lower end edges, slits 63 having a constant width and extending obliquely upward are formed.

  Just below the slit 63, a screw conveyor 64 extending in the direction inclined at the same angle as the slit 63 is disposed. The screw conveyor 64 comprises a screw 65 and a guide plate 66 covering the lower half of the outer periphery of the screw 65 at a slight distance. The lower rear end of the screw 65 is coaxially connected to the output shaft of the motor 67 via a coupling.

  A screw groove 65 a having a constant width and a constant depth is formed on the circular outer peripheral surface of the screw 65. As shown in FIG. 9 (b), the buckwheat 10 falling from the hopper 51 to the screw 65 is fed out by the screw groove 65 a as the screw 65 rotates. By appropriately setting the groove width and the groove depth and the guide surface 66a of the guide plate 66, the soba 10 enters the groove 65a one by one and is fed forward.

  The upper tip end axial end of the screw 65 is exposed from the guide plate 66. Just below this, a chute 68 is disposed, which extends in a downward sloping direction toward the side. The buckwheat 10 fed to the axial end of the screw 65 by the screw groove 65 a drops onto the chute 68 by its own weight and slides along the chute 68.

  Just below the lower end of the chute 68, a horizontally extending belt conveyor 69 is disposed. The buckwheat, which sequentially falls from the lower end of the chute 68 to the upstream end 69a of the belt conveyor 69, is conveyed by the belt conveyor 69 in the horizontal direction at predetermined intervals one by one.

  The position midway in the transport direction of the belt conveyor 69 is the evaluation position 31 by the quality evaluation device 30. As can be seen from FIG. 7, the evaluation position 31 is covered by the light shielding plate 37 so as not to be affected by disturbance light (the light shielding plate 37 is omitted in FIG. 8). The purple CW laser, which is excitation light, is irradiated to the buckwheat that passes by grain through the coaxial quartz cable 33 a of the irradiation optical system 33 from directly above. The excitation fluorescence of buckwheat is sent to the spectroscope 35 through the light receiving optical system 34, and the spectral data processing unit 36 calculates the amount of fluorescence (fluorescence intensity) of the fluorescence component of the predetermined wavelength band as a measurement value.

Next, FIG. 10 is a schematic plan view showing the sorting unit 50B. Referring also to this figure, in sorting section 50B, a front sorting path 70 horizontally extending forward and a left sorting path horizontally extending laterally below the downstream end 69b in the transport direction of belt conveyor 69 71 and the right side sorting path 72 are arranged. A merging portion at the upstream end of these is the sorting position 54, and on the bottom surface of the sorting position 54, a sorting port 73 opened downward is formed. The sorting port 73 is located directly below the downstream end of the belt conveyor 69. The front sorting path 70, the left sorting path 71, and the right sorting path 72 are connected to the recovery units 56a, 56b, and 56c, respectively. Immediately below the sorting port 73, a recovery unit 56d is opened.

  Further, a wind force sorting mechanism is disposed below the downstream end 69 b of the belt conveyor 69. The wind power sorting mechanism includes an air compressor 75 and three air nozzles 76, 77, 78 for blowing out the compressed air supplied thereto. The air nozzles 76, 77, 78 respectively direct the buckwheat, which falls from the downstream end 69b of the belt conveyor 69 to the sorting position 54, to the front sorting path 70, the left sorting path 71, and the right sorting path 72. It is a nozzle for blowing off.

(Quality evaluation and sorting operation)
An outline of the operation of the quality evaluation / sorting system 20 will be described. The buckwheat 10 to be evaluated / sorted into the hopper 51 falls onto the screw conveyor 64 from the slit 63 at the lower end thereof, and is delivered while being separated into individual particles by the screw conveyor 64. The buckwheat falling from the delivery end of the screw conveyor 64 slides down the chute 68 and is delivered to the lower belt conveyor 69. The soba is conveyed by the belt conveyor 69 one by one at predetermined intervals.

  A purple CW laser, which is excitation light, is emitted from directly above to a buckwheat that passes one grain at a time in the evaluation position 31 in the middle of the belt conveyor 69 at a predetermined interval. The excitation fluorescence of buckwheat is processed in the spectral data processing unit 36 of the control panel 80, and the fluorescence amount (fluorescence intensity) of the fluorescence component of the predetermined wavelength band is calculated as a measurement value.

  For example, in the case where the evaluation / sorting object is gen buckwheat, as shown in FIG. 4 (b) described above, the wavelength band of 500 nm to 640 nm of V-LIF in many types of gen buckwheat whose quality evaluation is determined Measure the amount of fluorescence, for example, prepare in advance three types of reference values to sort out those with quality “good”, “good”, “good” as a reference value that indicates the quality evaluation criteria. deep. These reference values are stored and held in the storage unit of the control panel 80. The control panel 80 can perform the quality evaluation of the buckwheat passing the evaluation position 31 one by one by comparing the measured values with the three types of reference values.

  The soba whose quality has been evaluated and graded is conveyed by the belt conveyor 69 to its downstream end and from there falls to the sorting position 54. At this time, the control panel 80 drives the air nozzles 76, 77, 78 corresponding to the grade of the buckwheat falling to the sorting position 54 to make the buckwheat sorter 70, the left sorting lane 71, the right sorting lane Allocate to 72. For example, if the grade is "excellent", the front sorter 70, if it is "good" the left sorter 71, if "good" the right sorter 72, the falling buckwheat falling horizontally is horizontal Blow away. On the other hand, when the grade is "impossible", the air is not blown, and it is dropped downward from the sorting port 73 as it is. Thereby, the buckwheat sorted according to the grade is respectively recovered to each recovery unit 56a to 56d.

On the other hand, in the case where the evaluation / sorting object is a circle-removed buckwheat, as shown in FIG. 6 described above, a large number of types of circle-removed buckwheats for which quality evaluation has been determined in advance Measure the amount of fluorescence and determine the standard value used for quality evaluation. For example, a first reference value is defined as the amount of fluorescence in the wavelength 680 nm band, and a second reference value is defined as the amount of fluorescence in the wavelength 500 nm band. In the actual quality evaluation, the amount of fluorescence in the wavelength band of 680 nm obtained from the round buckwheat is obtained as a first measurement value, and this is compared with a first reference value. Similarly, the amount of fluorescence in the wavelength band of 500 nm is obtained as a second measurement value, and this is compared with a second reference value. Based on the comparison result, the round buckwheat can be evaluated in four stages as shown in FIG. 6, and based on this, the round buckwheat can be sorted into four by grade.

[Other Embodiments]
In the above example, V-LIF measurement is performed for quality evaluation, but it is possible to perform quality evaluation of buckwheat in the same manner as described above even by measuring excitation fluorescence by an ultraviolet LED laser.

  Further, in the above-described system 20, the buckwheat is transported one by one for quality evaluation and sorting. It is also possible to perform quality evaluation and sorting of buckwheat batchwise.

  Furthermore, in the above-described system 20, the wind power sorting mechanism is used to sort the buckwheat, but it is also possible to sort using a sorting mechanism other than this.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 V-LIF measurement system 2 dark box 3 excitation light source 4 irradiation optical system 5 short wavelength cut filter 6 spectrometer 7 light reception optical system 8 data processing part 10 buckwheat 10A round buckwheat 10B rounding buckwheat 20 quality evaluation and sorting system of buckwheat 30 quality Evaluation device 31 Evaluation position 32 Laser generator 33 Irradiation optical system 34 Light receiving optical system 35 Spectrometer 36 Spectroscopic data processing unit 50 Transport sorting device 50A Transport unit 50B Sorting unit 51 Hopper 52 Transport path 54 Sorting position 56a to 56d Collection unit 61, 62 Guide plate 63 Slit 64 Screw conveyor 65 Screw 65a Screw groove 66 Guide plate 67 Motor 68 Chute 69 Belt conveyor 70 Forward sorting path 71 Left sorting path 72 Right sorting path 73 Sorting port 75 Air compressor 76, 77, 78 Air nozzle 80 control panel

Claims (8)

The buckwheat to be evaluated is irradiated with excitation light to generate fluorescence,
The fluorescence is spectrally analyzed to determine the amount of fluorescence in a predetermined wavelength band as a measurement value for quality evaluation,
The measured value is compared with a reference value representing a quality evaluation standard of the buckwheat set in advance.
It is a quality evaluation method of buckwheat which evaluates the quality of the buckwheat every single grain,
The buckwheat is a gen buckwheat,
The reference value is a value that changes in accordance with at least one of the specific gravity of the peel, the peel weight, and the peel ratio, which indicates the degree of fruityness of the peel.
The reference value corresponding to the degree of solidity is determined in advance by measuring the amount of fluorescence obtained by irradiating the excitation light to the green soba whose degree of solidity is known.
The method for evaluating quality of buckwheat wherein the reference value and the measurement value are fluorescence amounts in a wavelength band of 500 to 640 nm obtained by violet laser excitation fluorescence analysis. The buckwheat to be evaluated is irradiated with excitation light to generate fluorescence,
The fluorescence is spectrally analyzed to determine the amount of fluorescence in a predetermined wavelength band as a measurement value for quality evaluation,
The measured value is compared with a reference value representing a quality evaluation standard of the buckwheat set in advance.
It is a quality evaluation method of buckwheat which evaluates the quality of the buckwheat every single grain,
The buckwheat is a round buckwheat from which a peel has been removed,
The reference value is the crude protein content of the seed coat that changes according to the viscosity of the round buckwheat and the chlorophyll content of the seed coat that changes according to the freshness of the round buckwheat,
In advance, the amount of fluorescence obtained by irradiating the excitation light to the rounding-off buckwheat in which the viscosity and the freshness are known is measured, and a first reference value corresponding to the viscosity and the fluorescence as the reference value Find the second reference value corresponding to the freshness,
As the measurement value, a first measurement value representing the viscosity obtained from the unrounded buckwheat to be evaluated and a second measurement value representing the freshness are obtained.
A buckwheat quality evaluation method for evaluating the quality of the round buckwheat by comparing the first and second measured values with the first and second reference values, respectively. In claim 2,
The first reference value and the first measurement value are fluorescence amounts in a wavelength band including 500 nm obtained by violet laser excitation fluorescence analysis,
The method for evaluating quality of buckwheat wherein the second reference value and the second measurement value are fluorescence amounts in a wavelength band including 680 nm obtained by violet laser excitation fluorescence analysis. A buckwheat quality evaluation system for evaluating the quality of individual buckwheat grains
A placement unit on which the grated buckwheat to be evaluated is placed;
An excitation light source,
An irradiation optical system for guiding the excitation light from the excitation light source to irradiate the above-described buckwheat placed on the placement unit;
A light receiving optical system for receiving and guiding the fluorescence emitted from the gypsum soba;
A spectroscope which receives and analyzes the fluorescence through the light receiving optical system;
A spectral data processing unit that performs spectral data processing based on the spectral result of the spectrometer and performs quality evaluation of the buckwheat noodles;
A conveying device that conveys the buckwheat to be evaluated one by one along the conveyance path passing through the placement unit;
And have
The spectral data processing unit spectrally analyzes the fluorescence to calculate the amount of fluorescence in a predetermined wavelength band as a measurement value for quality evaluation;
The measurement value is compared with a reference value representing a quality evaluation standard of the pre-set buckwheat so as to evaluate the quality of the single buckwheat per single particle,
The reference value is a value that changes in accordance with at least one of the specific gravity of the peel, the peel weight, and the peel ratio, which indicates the degree of fruityness of the peel.
The reference value corresponding to the degree of solidity is a value obtained by measuring the amount of fluorescence obtained by irradiating the excitation light to the green soba whose degree of solidity is known,
The said reference value and the said measurement value are quality evaluation apparatuses of the buckwheat which is the fluorescence amount of the wavelength band of 500-640 nm obtained by purple laser excitation fluorescence analysis. A quality evaluation system for buckwheat for evaluating the quality of unrounded buckwheat from which peels have been removed,
A placement unit on which the round buckwheat to be evaluated is placed;
An excitation light source,
An irradiation optical system for guiding the excitation light from the excitation light source and irradiating the circled soba placed on the placement unit;
A light receiving optical system for receiving and guiding the fluorescence emitted from the unrounded buckwheat;
A spectroscope which receives and analyzes the fluorescence through the light receiving optical system;
A spectral data processing unit that performs spectral data processing on the basis of the spectral result by the spectrometer and performs quality evaluation of the round hollow soba;
A conveying device that conveys the rounding buckwheat to be evaluated one by one along the conveyance path passing through the placement unit;
And have
The spectral data processing unit has a calculation function of spectrally analyzing the fluorescence and calculating the amount of fluorescence in a predetermined wavelength band as a measurement value for quality evaluation;
And comparing the measured value with a reference value representing a quality evaluation standard of the round buckwheat set in advance, and evaluating the quality of the round buckwheat for each single particle,
The reference value is the crude protein content of the seed coat that changes according to the viscosity of the round buckwheat and the chlorophyll content of the seed coat that changes according to the freshness of the round buckwheat,
The calculation function obtains, as the measurement value, a first measurement value representing the viscosity obtained from the unrounded buckwheat to be evaluated and a second measurement value representing the freshness.
The comparison function is
As the reference value, a first reference value corresponding to the viscosity determined based on the measurement result of the amount of fluorescence obtained by irradiating the excitation light to the roundness-removed buckwheat in which the viscosity and the freshness are known Using a second reference value corresponding to the freshness,
A buckwheat quality evaluation apparatus that evaluates the quality of the round buckwheat by comparing the first and second measured values with the first and second reference values, respectively. In claim 5,
The first reference value and the first measurement value are fluorescence amounts in a wavelength band including 500 nm obtained by violet laser excitation fluorescence analysis,
A device for evaluating quality of buckwheat in which the second reference value and the second measurement value are fluorescence amounts in a wavelength band including 680 nm obtained by violet laser excitation fluorescence analysis. A buckwheat quality evaluation device according to claim 4, 5 or 6.
A quality evaluation / sorting system for buckwheat having a buckwheat sorter for sorting said buckwheat after quality assessment has been performed by the quality assessment unit based on an assessed quality grade. In claim 7,
The sorting device is a quality evaluation of the buckwheat which is a wind sorting mechanism that wind-sorts the buckwheat passing through the transport path portion downstream of the placement portion in the transport path in different directions according to the quality grade. -Sorting system.