Infrared Radiation Impact on the Structural and Mechanical Properties of Oatmeal

There are transformations occurring in a grain during the intensive infrared processing: the grain changes its size and density, swells, softens, and in some cases completely collapses; the grain surface color changes. The work aims at determining the infrared radiation impact on the structural and mechanical properties of ground oat of the highest grade, the “Yarmarka” brand, harvest 2021. The authors run research at the Grain, Bakery and Confectionery Products Department of ROSBIOTECH using a laboratory infrared installation. They revealed that the full-scale mass of ground oat reaches a minimum value, as evidenced by a large swelling coefficient of cereals, with an initial humidity of 18% and a radiant flux density of E = 32-34 kW/m2 . Low natural weight indicated significant structural and mechanical changes in the grain. Oat grain increased in volume by 1.3–1.5 times, its strength decreased and humidity reduced from 18 to 10%. The amount of water-soluble substances during thermal degradation of ground oat increased by 17 times. The number of acid-reacting compounds in the treated ground oat is 2 times lower than in the original, and the swelling rate of the oatmeal treated with infrared radiation increases by 3 times compared to conventional cereals. Thus, infrared radiation treatment with the parameters of experimentally established modes enables increasing the extractive compounds number and reducing acidity, which will increase the safe storage time of the resulting beverage and reduce the extraction time of dry substances from processed ground oat.