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ICAR AIEEA-PG / PGS Cereal Science & Milling Technology: practice questions

ICAR AIEEA-PG / PGS — Code 18 Food Science Technology · India · ICAR through the National Testing Agency

Original practice questions written to the published syllabus · not past papers
10worked here, free
64written to this exam in this subject
12syllabus units

What this subject covers

The structure and chemistry of cereal grains and millets and how they are milled into flour, semolina, rice and maize products, with the flour quality tests that decide what each flour can make.

In the exams: GATE XE-G Section 3 (milling of rice, wheat and maize; parboiling; waste utilisation from rice milling); ICAR AICE 35.a Unit 2 (food grain processing)

What ICAR AIEEA-PG / PGS asks from it

ICAR AIEEA-PG / PGS — Code 18 Food Science Technology

Unit III technology of cereals: milling of wheat, rice and maize, flour quality tests, malting, millets, breakfast cereals and by-products.

Where the 64 questions fall

How our questions for ICAR AIEEA-PG / PGS spread across the units of Cereal Science & Milling Technology. Difficulty: 21 easy, 35 medium, 8 hard.

Flour quality: protein, gluten, falling number and ash7
Rice milling and parboiling: quality and by-products7
Structure and composition of wheat, rice, maize, barley, oats, sorghum and millets6
Wheat milling: conditioning, break, reduction and flour streams6
Dough rheology tests: farinograph, mixograph, extensograph and alveograph6
Dry and wet milling of maize; starch, syrups and germ oil6
Malting of barley and other grains5
Rice bran stabilisation and by-product utilisation5
Starch modification: physical, chemical and enzymatic5
Millet processing and products4
Breakfast cereals and instant cereal products4
Oat milling and beta-glucans3

10 practice questions, worked

Choose an answer, then open the working. Each explanation says why the right answer is right and why the others are not.

1 · Structure and composition of wheat, rice, maize, barley, oats, sorghum and millets · easy

Kernel hardness in wheat, which decides how the endosperm fractures in milling, is controlled mainly by:

  1. Bran thickness of the kernel
  2. Gliadin content
  3. Puroindoline genes
  4. Amylose content
Answer and working

C. Puroindoline genes

Puroindolines govern softness; hard wheats give gritty particles and more damaged starch.

Further reading: Delcour and Hoseney, Principles of Cereal Science and Technology

2 · Wheat milling: conditioning, break, reduction and flour streams · hard

Flour streams from the head of the reduction system, compared with those from late break passages, are:

  1. Coarser semolina only
  2. Whiter, with lower ash
  3. Higher in germ oil
  4. Darker, with higher ash
Answer and working

B. Whiter, with lower ash

Head reduction streams come from the purest endosperm; late break streams carry more bran.

Further reading: Kent and Evers, Kent's Technology of Cereals

3 · Flour quality: protein, gluten, falling number and ash · easy

The nitrogen-to-protein conversion factor conventionally used for wheat flour is:

  1. 5.7
  2. 6.38
  3. 5.3
  4. 6.25
Answer and working

A. 5.7

5.7 for wheat; 6.25 is the general factor; 6.38 is used for milk.

Further reading: Kent and Evers; AACC International Approved Methods

4 · Rice milling and parboiling: quality and by-products · hard

1,000 kg of paddy gives 700 kg of milled rice, of which 560 kg is head rice. What is the head rice yield as a percentage of paddy?

  1. 80%
  2. 70%
  3. 14%
  4. 56%
Answer and working

D. 56%

560/1,000 = 56% of paddy; 80% is head rice as a share of milled rice.

Further reading: Juliano, Rice: Chemistry and Technology

5 · Malting of barley and other grains · medium

Malting raises grain moisture during steeping to about:

  1. 20–25%
  2. 70–80%
  3. 12–14%
  4. 42–46%
Answer and working

D. 42–46%

Steeping to 42–46% supports germination.

Further reading: Kent and Evers, malting chapter

6 · Oat milling and beta-glucans · easy

Rolled oats are produced by:

  1. Puffing oats in a pressure gun
  2. Flattening steamed groats
  3. Grinding hulls with the groats
  4. Extruding oat flour through a die
Answer and working

B. Flattening steamed groats

Cut groats give thinner, quicker flakes; instant oats are thinner still.

Further reading: Webster and Wood, Oats: Chemistry and Technology

7 · Millet processing and products · easy

Which millet is notably rich in calcium?

  1. Proso millet
  2. Pearl millet (bajra)
  3. Sorghum (jowar)
  4. Finger millet (ragi)
Answer and working

D. Finger millet (ragi)

Finger millet has about 300–350 mg calcium per 100 g.

Further reading: ICAR-IIMR publications on millets

8 · Rice bran stabilisation and by-product utilisation · medium

Rice bran oil is valued for its content of:

  1. γ-Oryzanol and tocotrienols
  2. Erucic acid and gossypol
  3. Lauric acid and myristic acid
  4. Omega-3 EPA and DHA
Answer and working

A. γ-Oryzanol and tocotrienols

Oryzanol and tocotrienols are characteristic; erucic acid is in rapeseed.

Further reading: Juliano; Chakraverty, Post Harvest Technology

9 · Breakfast cereals and instant cereal products · medium

In gun puffing, grain expands because:

  1. Sudden pressure release flashes water to steam
  2. Hot oil penetrates and expands the starch
  3. Air is pumped into the grain under vacuum
  4. Carbon dioxide from yeast fermentation inflates it
Answer and working

A. Sudden pressure release flashes water to steam

Steam pressure builds in a sealed chamber and is released instantly.

Further reading: Delcour and Hoseney, breakfast cereals chapter

10 · Breakfast cereals and instant cereal products · medium

In extrusion cooking of breakfast cereals, expansion occurs:

  1. In the feed hopper before heating
  2. Only when yeast is added to the feed
  3. As the melt leaves the die and water flashes to steam
  4. During cooling after cutting
Answer and working

C. As the melt leaves the die and water flashes to steam

The pressure drop at the die causes expansion.

Further reading: Delcour and Hoseney, breakfast cereals chapter

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Read the subject

Cereal Science & Milling TechnologyThe full study manual, free ICAR AIEEA-PG / PGSFormat, sections and how it has changed

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Cereal Science & Milling Technology for other exams

GATE · IndiaGATE · IndiaICAR AICE-JRF/SRF · India

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