Cereal grain is pretreated before milling, by selectively removing a first fraction of husk components of the cereal, wherein the first fraction includes the outer husk components of the dampened cereal, and wherein 0.2 to 2% by weight of the cereal is removed, then dampening and conditioning the cereal, then selectively removing a second fraction of husk components of the cereal, wherein the second fraction substantially contains dietary fibers of the dampened cereal. The method makes it possible to efficiently obtain contamination-free total dietary fibers. An apparatus for carrying out the method, and advantageous uses of the total dietary fibers are also described.

A controllable emitter of an irrigation apparatus including a drip line and a control station configured to control a pressure of pressurized fluid in the drip line is provided. The controllable emitter is disposable along the drip line and includes a container coupled to the drip line, the container being formed to define an interior and including an inlet through which the pressurized fluid is receivable in the interior from the drip line and an outlet through which the pressurized fluid is exhaustible from the interior, a piston, including a magnetic element, disposed at least partially in the container to occupy a position in accordance with the pressure of the pressurized fluid and a sensor configured to sense a position of the magnetic element and to communicate a sensed position to the control station.

The invention relates to methods of extracting DNA from seeds, said method comprising pretreating said seeds by soaking the seeds in a pretreatment solution comprising an alkali in a concentration sufficient to soften said seed; crushing said seeds; extracting said DNA from said crushed seeds. Methods also relate to the use of pretreatment solutions which further comprise an osmoticum. A method of fragmenting plant material such as seed, a method of recovering extraction medium from seed fragmentation and a process of extracting a seed component from crushed seed material are also described.

A method of reducing the asparagine content of whole grain flour for the production of baked goods includes treating whole grains by tempering the whole grains in an aqueous solution of an asparagine-reducing composition to concentrate and localize asparaginase activity in the bran and germ of the whole grains. In one approach, the asparagine-reducing composition may comprise an asparaginase enzyme. In another approach, the asparagine-reducing composition may comprise a yeast strain capable of degrading asparagine. The tempering treatment with the asparagine-reducing composition reduces asparagine in the whole grains by at least about 25%, resulting in a whole grain flour having an asparagine content of no more than about 250 ppm. Also described are baked goods having a reduced asparagine and acrylamide content comprising a whole grain flour obtained by treating whole grains with an asparagine-reducing composition during tempering.

A method of reducing the asparagine content of whole grain flour for the production of baked goods includes treating whole grains by tempering the whole grains in an aqueous solution of an asparagine-reducing composition to concentrate and localize asparaginase activity in the bran and germ of the whole grains. In one approach, the asparagine-reducing composition may comprise an asparaginase enzyme. In another approach, the asparagine-reducing composition may comprise a yeast strain capable of degrading asparagine. The tempering treatment with the asparagine-reducing composition reduces asparagine in the whole grains by at least about 25%, resulting in a whole grain flour having an asparagine content of no more than about 250 ppm. Also described are baked goods having a reduced asparagine and acrylamide content comprising a whole grain flour obtained by treating whole grains with an asparagine-reducing composition during tempering.