Post-harvest quality of red lentils

The quality of Canadian red lentil has long been known to decrease in storage. Producers and processors would benefit from knowing the factors involved in the quality of red lentils in long storage periods. This study focuses on investigating the effect of post-harvest handling conditions and storage time on the dehulling efficiency and cooking quality of two varieties of red lentils, as well as optimizing dehulling conditions. Dehulling efficiency was studied with a Satake grain testing mill model TM05C. Dehulled samples were cooked and then tested with an Instron Universal Testing Machine equipped with an Ottawa texture cell fitted with an extrusion insert.