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Digital imaging analysis of size and shape of wheat and pea upon heating under anoxic conditions as a function of the temperature

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Abstract

Three types of experiments were carried out. In the first series of experiments emmer wheat grains (Triticum dicoccum Schübl), var. AR, and peas (Pisum sativum L.), var. RE, were heated at temperatures ranging from 130–700 °C under controlled anoxic conditions for a maximum of 120 min. For each temperature a separate experiment was carried out in a pre-heated tube oven. Image acquisition was carried out on a flat bed scanner with a transparency adapter; for the analysis the image program IMAGE J 1.27 was used. Various size and shape factors are discussed and the definitions of the selected size and shape factors are given. The size and shape were measured and the mean calculated from thirty of the untreated specimens and the charred residues heated at each temperature. The results show a change of size and shape as a function of the temperature. The changes for wheat grains and peas are not identical. It is suggested that the presence of the pericarp enclosing the wheat grains causes this difference. In a second series of experiments it was shown that untreated grains of emmer wheat, bread wheat and macaroni wheat can be separated by measuring the shape, but size varies too much within each species, probably the result of different growing conditions, to be useful for separation purposes. As a result of heating at temperatures higher than 290 °C the shape of the three species becomes identical. This implies that the three species can no longer be separated after being heated, solely on the basis of size and shape. Finally, both emmer wheat grains enclosed by chaff and without chaff were heated under similar conditions. After removal of the chaff from the former, the size and shape of the grains were measured. The results show no significant difference in size and shape between both types.

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Acknowledgements

The authors are grateful to B. Marino (FOM Institute for Atomic and Molecular Physics, Amsterdam, The Netherlands) for her suggestions regarding digital imaging analysis. Practical help with the microphotographs of wheat grains by E. Mulder (Faculty of Archaeology, Leiden University) is gratefully acknowledged.

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Author notes

  1. Pim F. van Bergen

    Present address: Flow Assurance, Shell Global Solutions International B.V., P.O. Box 38000, 1030 , BN Amsterdam, The Netherlands

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Archaeology, Leiden University, P.O. Box 9515, 2300 , RA Leiden, The Netherlands

    Freek Braadbaart

  2. Department of Earth Sciences—Geochemistry, Faculty of Geosciences, Utrecht University, P.O. Box 80021, 3058 , TA Utrecht, The Netherlands

    Pim F. van Bergen

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  1. Freek Braadbaart
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  2. Pim F. van Bergen
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Correspondence to Freek Braadbaart.

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Braadbaart, F., van Bergen, P.F. Digital imaging analysis of size and shape of wheat and pea upon heating under anoxic conditions as a function of the temperature. Veget Hist Archaeobot 14, 67–75 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00334-004-0050-y

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00334-004-0050-y

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