Chick peas: Grading factors

Full list of grading factors

C

Colour (CLR)

Colour is a grade determinant only in the Kabuli class. Colour is assessed after the removal of damaged chick peas and chick peas assessed as green. See Damaged and Green.

Matured, immature, uniform normal colour for chick peas
If chick peas are: Colour is:
Sound, well matured and have a uniform normal colour Good
Immature, but not green, have moderate amounts of adhered soil, are lightly stained or otherwise moderately discoloured from natural causes Fair
Do not meet the definition of fair colour Poor

Contaminated grain

Important: Wear gloves and a mask to handle any sample that is suspected of containing contaminated grain.

Grain is contaminated for the purposes of the Canada Grain Act if the grain contains any substance in sufficient quantity that the grain is either

  1. adulterated for the purposes of the Food and Drugs Act; or 
  2. contaminated within the meaning of the regulations made under section 51 of the Safe Foods for Canadians Act.

Procedures

If a sample is suspected of being contaminated, the sample should be submitted to the Canadian Grain Commission. Determination as to whether grain is contaminated will be made by the Grain Research Laboratory in consultation with the Chief Grain Inspector for Canada. Samples deemed to be contaminated are graded: Chick peas, Sample Condemned.

D

Damage (DMG)

Damaged chick peas include

  • Whole or broken chick peas that are sprouted, frost damaged, heated, damaged by insects, distinctly deteriorated or discoloured by weather or by disease, or that are otherwise damaged in a way that seriously affects their quality.
Note: for frost damaged kernels, use the following table:
Frost damage Considered as
Frost-damaged chick peas which are green Green
Frost-damaged chick peas with no green colour Damage

Procedures

In Kabuli chick peas, white and shriveled chick peas and yellow or water stained chick peas should be cut and examined for damage. If the cotyledons show

  • Any signs of visible damage, they are considered damaged
  • No signs of visible damage, they are considered in the evaluation of colour

E

Earth pellets (EP)

See Foreign material.

Ergot (ERG)

Ergot is a plant disease producing elongated fungus bodies that have a purplish-black exterior, a purplish-white to off-white interior, and a relatively smooth surface texture.

Excreta (EXCR)

Excrement from any animal including mammals, birds and insects

Important : Wear gloves and a mask to handle any samples that you suspect may contain excreta.

Extraneous material

Can be defined as glass, metal, wood, plastic or any other material not already defined in the Official Grain Grading Guide.

F

Fertilizer pellets (FERT PLTS)

Fertilizer pellets are a manufactured plant nutrient product used by producers in the production of grain. They are typically small, round or irregular shaped and usually white, grey, brown, pink or reddish in colour.

Procedures

  • Handpick any fertilizer pellets and determine the concentration basis the net working sample.
  • Fertilizer pellets are assessed as stones when the concentration does not exceed 1.0% of the net sample weight.
  • Samples containing fertilizer pellets in excess of 1.0% of the net sample weight are graded chick peas, Held IP Suspect Contaminated Grain.

Fireburnt (FBNT)

Fireburnt seeds have been charred or scorched by fire. No fireburnt seeds are allowed in chick peas.

Procedures

Samples considered fireburnt are graded Chick peas, Sample CW (class) Account Fireburnt.

Foreign material (FM)

Foreign material includes

  • Other classes of chick peas
  • Other grains and seeds
  • Ergot and Sclerotinia
  • Mineral matter, stones and earth pellets
  • Any other material not removed by Normal cleaning procedures

G

Green (GR)

Chick peas may be considered green regardless of the cause. (Does not apply to green coloured varieties)

Frost-damaged chick peas which are green are considered under the grade determinant for Green.

Frost-damaged chick peas with no green colour are considered under the grade determinant for Damage.

Kabuli chick peas are considered green if they show any green colour of any size area anywhere on the seeds or seed coats.

Desi chick peas are considered green if they show distinctly green colour throughout the seed when cut to expose the cotyledons.

H

Heated (HTD)

Chick peas that have dull seed coats and discoloured cotyledons ranging from light tan to dark brown are considered heated. See Damage.

Heated seeds of other grains are included in the tolerance for Damage.

I

Insect parts (I PARTS)

Insect parts refers to whole or pieces of insects such as grasshoppers, lady bugs and other insects that remain in the sample after cleaning or processing.

If pulse crops come into contact with insects during the harvesting process, it may result in seed staining and earth adhering to the seed and may result in samples having an objectionable odour. Samples containing staining of this nature will be considered to be earth tagged and graded according to colour definitions. Samples having a distinct objectionable odour not associated with the quality of the grain will be graded Type of Grain Sample Account Odour.

M

Mechanical damage including splits (MDMGINCSPLTS)

In chick peas, mechanical damage including splits includes

  • Whole chick peas with more than 10% of the chickpea broken off
  • Split chick peas

Important: Seeds with hairline cracks and chipped seed coats are not considered mechanical damage.

Procedures

Chick peas with mechanical damage are hand-picked from the cleaned sample.

O

Odour (ODOR)

There is no numeric tolerance for odour. Consider

  • The basic quality of the sample
  • The type and degree of the odour
  • The presence of visible residue causing the odour
Heated, fireburnt and odour for chick peas
If odour is the grade determinant and there is: Then the grade is:
A distinct objectionable odour not associated with the quality of the grain, but not Chick peas, Sample Canada Western (CW) (class) Account Odour
A distinct heated odour Chick peas, Sample CW (class) Account Heated
A distinct fireburnt odour Chick peas, Sample CW (class) Account Fireburnt

S

Sclerotinia sclerotiorum (SCL)

Sclerotinia sclerotiorum is a fungus producing hard masses of fungal tissue, called sclerotia. The sclerotia vary in size and shape, have a course surface texture, vary in exterior color from dark black to gray to white and have a pure white interior. See Foreign material.

Soft earth pellets (SEP)

See Foreign material.

Stones (STNS)

See Foreign material.

T

Treated seed and other chemical substances

Treated seed

Treated seed is grain that has been adulterated with an agricultural chemical for agronomic purposes. The types of agricultural chemicals used to treat seed include pesticides, fungicides and inoculants. These seed dressings contain a dye to render the treated seed visually conspicuous. The colour of the dye varies depending upon the type of treatment and the type of grain. The current Canadian colour standard for pesticide and fungicide seed treatments for cereal (including corn) is red or pink. The colour standard for pesticide and fungicide seed treatments for canola is blue; however, green has also been used. Pulse crop (including soybeans) pesticide and fungicide seed treatments are typically blue or green. The coatings or stains may appear greasy or powdery and the surface area covered may range from tiny flecks to complete coverage.

Other chemical substances

Other chemical substances refers to any chemical residues either adhering to the kernel or remaining in the sample and to samples having a chemical odour of any kind.

Important: Wear gloves and a mask to handle any samples that you suspect may contain contaminated grain.

Procedures

If a sample is suspected of being coated with a pesticide, desiccant, inoculant or if the sample contains evidence of any foreign chemical substance other than fertilizer pellets, the sample shall be graded chick peas, Held IP Suspect Contaminated Grain.

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