The biggest problem in bakery is the poor quality of the flour. This situation is caused by the foreign substances to be found in the wheat. The biggest problem for the miller is the impurities that mix between the wheat grains. According to TS 2974 standard, impurities are all kinds of substances except weeds, weed seeds, stones, dust, soil, wheat ears or shells that surround wheat grains, stalks, straw and shortly grain of wheat. In simple terms, they are all kinds of impurities passing through the sieve together with wheat grains.

Wheat grains of different characteristics are also included in the expression of foreign matter. For example, bpits are rotten, moldy, heated, sprouted, undeveloped, diseased or insect-eaten wheat grains remaining on the sieve. Broken grains are again all non-grains remaining on the sieve. Sucked grains are those that are gnawed by pests or damaged by the sun. Broken grains are wheat grains that are damaged, rancid, heated and tarnished by various fungi or bacteria. Apart from these, other cereal grains such as barley, rye or oats may be mixed into the wheat. In addition, weed seeds, rye spur, and coarse diseased grains grown in the field together with wheat are included in the definition of foreign matter.

All of the above mentioned impurities in the wheat grains decrease the commercial value of wheat on the one hand and adversely affect the flour yield on the other hand. Therefore, it is important to determine the amount of foreign matter.

Determination of foreign matter in wheat is also carried out in the authorized laboratories within the scope of physical analysis. During these studies, standards, general test methods and test criteria published by local and foreign organizations are followed. The standard used in this respect is:

• TS 2974 Wheat