Canada|
July 7, 2016
SGS hosts the official opening of its new cereals lab in Guelph, Ontario on July 11, 2016.
This is the first time that a producer organization and private company have joined forces to develop a laboratory providing the full analytical testing scope for cereal crops in Canada.
Equipped to conduct panification (bread making) in controlled laboratory conditions, the laboratory can identify the best quality wheat for this purpose. Bread making is a key market for Canada’s cereal growers and the laboratory will help better position Canadian farmers and Canadian cereal crops in domestic and international markets.
The laboratory's capabilities will fully support the growth of grain farmers, processors and millers in Canada by providing quality data to aid in their marketing efforts.
Cereal testing equipment
The lab will be able to determine the levels of moisture, protein and ash in wheat and flour, and to perform a number of dough rheology tests:
- Farinograph – measures the absorption and dough strength properties of a flour and water mixture, as it’s combined and developed into dough through mixing
- Alveograph – measures the dough’s resistance to extension, similar to the conditions in fermentation and baking (oven rise)
- Extensograph – measures the elasticity and extensibility of a dough
- Amylograph – measures the alpha-amylase activity and viscosity (starch gelatinization) of a flour sample
The lab has a Chopin SDMatic to determine the amount of damaged starch present in a flour sample after the milling process, and a Perten Falling Number machine to measure the alpha-amylase enzyme activity in grain and flour samples. It can perform Solvent Retention Capacity tests to determine water absorption in a flour sample, breaking it down to the degree of absorption contributed by its glutenin, pentosans and damaged starch portions.
All of these tests can be performed on submitted flour samples, as well as those obtained after milling wheat on our Buhler Laboratory Mill.
SGS experts
The lab’s two new cereal testing specialists are Paolo Santangelo and Renuka Waduge:
Paolo Santangelo
With a BSc in Biological Sciences from the University of Lethbridge, Paolo started his career in 2000 as a shift miller. He worked for Farmgro Organic Foods in Regina, Canada and then for Miller Milling in Winchester, Virginia, gaining experience in the milling of hard spring and winter wheat, soft wheat and durum.
In 2006, Paolo became Quality Control and Quality Assurance Manager for Ellison Milling Company (now part of P&H Milling Group) in Lethbridge, AB. In 2008, he obtained a Certified Baker - Breads and Rolls Diploma from the American Institute of Baking. A year later, he moved to Rogers Foods (in BC) as Director of Quality and Technical Sales.
He is a member of both the American Association of Cereal Chemistry and of the Prairie Grain Development Committee, and a voting member on the Wheat, Rye and Triticale Quality Evaluation Team. Paolo joins SGS as a commercial manager for the laboratory.
Renuka Waduge
Renuka has several years of direct experience in cereal science, and has worked in the Guelph Food Research Centre, Agriculture and at Agri-Food Canada.
Renuka earned a PhD from University of Guelph, specializing in Food Science. In her role as a cereal chemist, Renuka is responsible for providing the technical expertise needed to set up and expand the cereal testing capabilities of the SGS Guelph laboratory.
SGS Guelph laboratory
This new laboratory is at the SGS facility in Guelph, which already performs soil and feed testing for the agricultural industry as well as greenhouse analytical services.
Topics
Species
