When you grow and press oil seed, like in the canola industry, you need to use the right methods for proper oil seed cleaning and storage. When you fail to take the proper measures, the quality of your seed and oil will drop, which can lead to financial losses.
To ensure the quality of the oil, you need high-quality seeds to put through the press. To achieve that quality, you have to properly clean and store your oil seed. There are certain methods and best practices during oil seed cleaning and storage to earn the profits that you want to see.
Cleaning oil seed is a vital step in the process of making high-quality oil. When the seeds have impurities, it affects the extraction process during pressing to turn the seeds into oil. These impurities also affect the flavor of the oil.
Besides affecting the oil itself, unclean oil seeds also put more wear on the press and other components during the process than cleaned seeds. Objects other than the seeds themselves, like small stones, will damage the press. This shortens the lifespan of these mechanisms and necessitates more frequent repairs. This can create added costs and disrupt the process, leading to other issues as well.
Other objects in your oil seed store can also cause mold to grow after producing higher temperatures. This type of growth drastically reduces the quality of your oil seed and the oil it can produce.
During the harvest of your oil seed, you can’t help but pick up this extra debris. Considering how much of a negative impact it has on the pressing process, it’s obvious how important the cleaning process is. You can clean your oil seed before or after storage, as long as it occurs before pressing.
To clean your oil seed, you need the right equipment. Seed cleaners are simple mechanisms that haven’t changed much since the 1930s. This equipment uses two parts — a system of screens and fans — to separate different materials by their size and density. Throughout the process, the seed cleaner removes unwanted objects and particles.
The seeds can go through one last process to remove dirt and dust. The dust remover isn’t a common application, but those who routinely use it claim that it prolongs the life of their other cleaning equipment because it cuts down on the abrasiveness of the oil seed.
Whether you’re cleaning the seeds before or after storage, keeping oil seeds in the right environment after harvest maintains their quality. If you had to press the seeds right after harvest, the oil could turn rancid before you can distribute all of it. Storing the seeds until it’s time to press prolongs their lifespan.
The time required for pressing is longer than the time required to harvest, creating the need for storage. You may also be growing different types of seeds that are harvested at different times.
An important objective during long-term oil seed storage is to keep the moisture below 10% moisture content. When the moisture level rises too high, the seeds are not optimized for pressing and it can cause mold, fungus and bacteria to grow. Too much of this growth makes the pressed oil unfit for consumption.
To prevent those negative effects, monitoring the temperature and moisture content of the oil seed keeps it in the best condition possible. Even if the moisture or temperature goes up too much, there are ways to correct it. You can dry the seeds through aeration or heated air drying.
Even if you properly cleaned the oil seed before storage, that doesn’t matter if you aren’t using the right storage practices. By using these methods, you can ensure the quality of your harvest and oil production.
To make top-quality oil, you need to use the proper equipment and methodology for storage and cleaning. At LCDM, we have products such as cushion boxes, spouting and valves for canola seed operations to assist in the process.
With the right equipment and methodology, you can continue producing high-quality oil seed to press. With a variety of products and top industry knowledge, we have everything you need for smooth and efficient canola seed handling operations.
Contact us today to learn more about our grain handling equipment for U.S. and Canadian canola and other oil seed operations.
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