M. Kasraei - Department of Mechanics of Agricultural Machinery, Faculty of Agriculture, Shiraz University, Shiraz, Islamic Republic of Iran.
J. Nejadi - Department of Mechanics of Agricultural Machinery, Faculty of Agriculture, Shiraz University, Shiraz, Islamic Republic of Iran.
S. Shafiei - Department of Mechanics of Agricultural Machinery, Faculty of Agriculture, Shiraz University, Shiraz, Islamic Republic of Iran.

Physicochemical and mechanical properties of wheat grains can have a great impact on the quality of the final products (bread). Therefore, correct selection of wheat cultivar for specific applications seems to be crucial. In this study, the differences in the physicochemical and mechanical properties (under compression and impact loadings) of ten Iranian wheat cultivars (Azar۲, Alamut, Bam, Bahar, Chamran, Shiraz, Falat, Keras Adl, Marvdasht, and Nicknejad) were studied. Moreover, the relationship between these properties was investigated. The results indicated that the type of cultivar had significant influences on physicochemical and mechanical properties. The results of regression analysis between physicochemical and mechanical properties showed a significant correlation between protein content and particle size index (r۲= ۰.۶). Moreover, the protein content could be significantly correlated with the parameters obtained from mechanical tests (r۲> ۰.۵۰). Among the mechanical parameters obtained from compression and impact loading, the apparent elastic modulus and the specific breakage energy established maximum correlation (r۲= ۰.۷۷ and ۰.۷۸, respectively) with the protein content. Similarly, significant correlations were found between particle size index and mechanical parameters (r۲>۰.۶۰). Hence, the wheat protein content and particle size index, which have great impacts on quality of the final product, can be estimated by a few simple mechanical tests on the wheat kernels.

Compression test, impact test, Particle size index, Protein, Toughness