Milling of Pulses

Pulses are rich in proteins and are mainly consumed in the form of dehusked split
pulses. Pulses are the main source of protein in vegetarian diet. There are about
4000 pulse mills (Dhal mills) in India. The average processing capacities of pulses
milk in India vary from 10 to 20 tonnes/day.
Milling of pulses means removal of the outer husk and splitting the grain into
two equal halves. Generally, the husk is much more tightly held by the kernel of
some pulses than most cereals Therefore, dehusking of some pulses poses a
problem. The method of alternate wetting and drying is used to facilitate dehusking
and splitting of pulses. In India the dehusked split pulses are produced by
traditional methods of milling. In traditional pulse milling methods, the loosening of
husk by conditioning is insufficient. Therefore, a large amount of abrasive force is
applied fur the complete dehusking of the grains which results in high losses in the
form of brokens and powder. Consequently, the yield of split pulses in traditional
mills is only 65 to 70 per cent in comparison to 82 to 35 per cent potential yield.
It is, therefore, necessary to improve the traditional methods of pulses milling
to increase the total yield of dehusked and split pulses and reduce the losses.
Varieties, Composition and structure
Green gram, red gram, bengal gram, horse gram, cluster bean, field pea, arhar are
some of the common types of pulses.
The botanical name of Arhar is Cajanas cajon. Its chemical composition and
structure are:
Moisture 10.35 %
Protein (NX 6.25) 24.19 %
Ether extract 1.89 %
Ash 3.55 %
Crude fibre 1.01 %
Carbohydrate 59.21 %

The average percentage of husk and endosperm in arhar is 15 per cent and 85
per cent respectively

Milling of Pulses
In India, there are two conventional pulses milling methods ; wet milling method
and dry milling method. The latter is more popular and used in commercial mills,

Pulses

Cleaning
Chaffs, dirts etc -

Soaking

Mixing with red earth

Conditioning

Dehusking and splitting

(Mixture of husk, small
broken and powder)
Grading
Brokens

Dehusked split pulses

(Grade I pulses)

Flow diagram of wet milling

Traditional dry milling method ('DHAL' MILLING)

There is no common processing method for all types of pulses. However, some
general operations of dry milling method such as cleaning and grading, rolling or
pitting, oiling, rnoistening, drying and milling have been described in subsequent
paragraphs.
Cleaning and grading
 Pulses are cleaned from dust, chaff, grits, etc., and graded according to size by
a reel type or rotating sieve type cleaner,
Pitting
The clean pulses are passed through an emery roller machine-
In this unit, husk is cracked and scratched. This is to facilitate the subsequent oil
penetration process for the loosening of husk. The clearance between the emery
roller and cage (housing) gradually narrows from inlet to outlet. As the material is
passed through the narrowing clearance mainly cracking and scratching of husk
takes place by friction between pulses and emery. Some of the pulses are
dehusked and split during this operation which are then separated by sieving.

Pretreatments with oil

The scratched or pitted pulses are passed through a screw conveyor and mixed
with some edible oil like linseed oil (1.5 to 2.5 kg/tonne of pulses). Then they
are kept on the floor for about 12 hours for diffusion of the oil.
Conditioning of pulses
Conditioning of pulses is done by alternate wetting and drying. After sun drying
for a certain period, 3-5 per cent moisture is added to the pulse and tempered for
about eight flours and again dried in the sun. Addition of moisture to the pulses
can be accomplished by allowing water to drop from an overhead tank on the
pulses being passed through a screw conveyor. The whole process of alternate
wetting and drying is continued for two to four days until all pulses are
sufficiently conditioned. Pulses are finally dried to about 10 to 12 per cent
moisture content
Dehusking and Splitting
Emery rollers, known as Gota machine are used for the dehusking of conditioned
pulses About 50 per cent pulses are dehusked in a single operation (in one pass).
Dehusked pulses are split into two parts also, the husk is aspirated off and
dehusked, split pulses are separated by sieving. The tail pulses and unsplit
dehusked pulses are again conditioned and milled as above The whole process is
repeated two to three times until the remaining- pulses are dehusked and split.
Polishing
Polish is given to the dehusked and split pulses by treating them with a small
quantity of oil and / or water.
 Pulses

Cleaning
Chaff, dirts, etc.
Pitting
Mixture of husk and brokens (feed)
Pretreatment with oil

Conditioning

Dehusking and splitting

Mixture of husk + Brokens
+ powder (feed)
Grading

Polishing

Grade I Pulse

Flow diagram of dry milling of pulses

Commercial milling of pulses by traditional methods

It is discussed earlier that the traditional milling of pulses are divided into two heads,
namely, dry milling and wet milling. But both the processes involved two basic steps : (i)
Preconditioning of pulses by alternate wetting and sun drying for loosening husk and
(ii) subsequent milling by dehusking and splitting of the grains into two cotyledons
followed by aspiration and size separation using suitable machines. 100 per cent-
dehusking and splitting of pulses are seldom achieved particularly in cases of certain
pulses like tur, black gram and green gram. Of them tur is the moat difficult pulses to
dehusk and split. Only about 40 to 5O per cent tur grains are dehusked and split in
the first pass of preconditioning and milling. As sundrying is practiced the
traditional method is not only weather dependent but also it requires a large
drying yard to match with the milling capacity. As a result it takes 3 to 7 days for
complete processing of a batch of 20 to 30 tonnes of pulses into dhals. Moreover
milling losses are also quite high in the traditional method of milling of pulses.
In general, simple reciprocating or rotary sieve cleaners are used for cleaning while
bucket elevators are used for elevating pulses.
Pitting or scratching of pulses is done in a roller machine. A worm mixer is used for
oiling as well as watering of the pitted pulses.
The machines used for dehusking are either power driven disc type sheller 'chakki’ or
emery-coated roller machine, which is commonly known as 'gota1 machine. The emery
roller is encaged in a perforated cylinder. The whole assembly is normally fixed at a
horizontal position. The Engelberg type rice hullers are also used for dehusking of
return unhusked black gram and green gram pulses in some parts of South India, where
coarse stone powder at 0.5 to 0.75 per cent level is mixed with the grains as a abrasive
material.
Sometimes either a cone type polisher or a buffing machine is employed for removal
of the remaining last patches of husk and for giving a fine polisher to the finished dha.
The cone polisher is similar to the polishing machine used for polishing of rice (i.e. for
removal of bran from brown rice). The buffing machine is equipped with a rotating paddle
having leather straps which can remove the last patch of husk and can give a fine polish
to the dehusked pulses.
Blowers are used for aspiration of husk and powder from the products of the disc
sheller or roller machine. Split dhals are separated from the unhusked and husked whole
pulses with the help of sieve type separators.
Sieves are also employed for grading of dhals.
In general, the raw pulses may contain 2 to 5 per cent impurities (foreign materials),
some insect infested grains and extra moisture. Though the clean pulses contain about
10-15 percent and 2-5 per cent germs, the yield of dhals commercial dhal mills varies
from 68-75 per cent. It may be noted that the average potential yields of common
dhals vary from 85 to 89 per cent. These milling losses in the commercial pulses mills
can be attributed lo small brokens and fine powders found during scoring and
simultaneous dehusking and splitting operations.
Some of the commercial milling methods commonly followed for different pulses are
briefly described in the subsequent paragraphs.
Dry milling of tur
The dry milling of tur is generally practiced in M.P and U,P, as it can give, higher
turnover in terms of capacity of mill having the same area of drying facilities. In this
method the pulses are subjected to pitting in a roller and then they were subjected to
oil treatment by applying 0.5 to 2 per cent linseed or any other edible oil in worm
mixers. The pulses are then spread in the drying yard for sundrying for 2 to 4 days.
The pulses are tempered by heaping and covering during the nights in between these
days. After thorough sundrying the pulses are once again moistened uniformly with
about 5 per cent water and kept as such on heaps overnight for uniform moisture
equilibration. Then these grains are passed through the rollers for dehusking and
splitting. About 50 per cent grains are dehusked and split in first operation.
After removal of the husk by aspiration the split dhal is separated from a mixture
of husked and unhusked whole pulses. The mixture is once again moistened by
spraying water and dried in the sun and then dehusked and split as before either in
roller or in an under runner disc sheller, where around 30 per cent of the grains are
dehusked and split. The above process of alternate wetting and drying is repeated
until almost all the remaining pulses are converted into split dhal. The average yield
of dhal ranges from 68 to 75 per cent.

DRY milling of black gram

After cleaning the black grams are subjected to pricking in a rough roller mill for
some scratching as well as partial removal of the waxy coating on the black grams.
The scratched grain; are then coated with 1 to 2 per cent oil in a worm mixer and
then heaped over night for diffusion of the oil m the grains The scratched and oil
coated pulses are sprayed in drying yards for sundrying for 4 to 6 hours. The partially
dried grains are moistened with a spray of 4 to 5 per cent water and kept over night
for moisture equilibration. The wetted pulses are then dried for 3 to 4 days in the sun
and tempered over nights in between these drying periods. The thoroughly dried
pulses are dehusked in a roller- About 40 to 50 per cent pulses are dehusked and split
in first milling operation. The husk and powder are then aspirated off. Then the split
dhal is separated from the dehusked whole dhal and unhusked pulses by sieving.
Both husked and unhusked whole grains are again dried in the sun and milled as
above and the same process is repeated until the desired milling of pulses is
achieved. The average yield of dhal is 70-71 per cent. Sometimes the last part
of the unsplit grains and partially husked grains are allowed to pass through
sheller and polisher machines for splitting and removal of the husk, which
result in a large amount of losses due to formation of powder and brokens.
In some cases polishing is done in a buffing machine. In order to give a white finish
and to protect from insect attack a coating of soapstone powder is generally given to
these 'dhals’.
Dry milling of Bengal gram, Lintel and peas.
It is comparatively easy to dehusk and split Bengal gram. Lentil and Peas
as their husks are loosely attached to the cotyledons. It requires shorter
period of preconditioning prior to milling these pulses.
After cleaning, the pulses are pitted in a roller machine. The pitted grains
are then wetted with water (5 to 10 per tent) in a worm mixer and then
these are kept in heaps for a few hours for diffusion of water into the
grains. These grains are dried in the sun for a day or two, with overnight
tempering in between these days. About 60 to 70 per cent dried pulses are
then dehusked and split in the first pass of a roller machine-The husk and
powder are aspirated off. The split pulses are separated from the unhusked
and husked whole grains by sieving. The alternate wetting with 5 per cent
water and sundrying and subsequent milling operations are repeated till the
most of the pulses are converted to dhal.
The preconditioning and milling of Lentils and Peas are comparable with bengal
gram. The same initial pitting, wetting, conditioning, sundrying and subsequent milling
by dehusking and splitting in a roller and aspiration of husk with a blower. Separation of
split dhal from the mixture of unhusked and husked whole grains with a sieve are being
followed. The whole process of preconditioning and milling are repeated till most of
the pulses are converted into dhal. However, conversion of these pulses into dhals
are easy compared in tur. It takes about 3 to 5 days for complete precessing
of a batch of pulses,
Dry milling of Green Gram
In dry milling of preen gram, both oil and water treatments aft given to the
grains. The wetted grains are dried in the sun. Then the dried pulses are
simultaneously dehusked and split using a dehusking machine. After removal
of husk, split dhal is separated from the mixture as usual. The yield of dhal is
poor which varies from 62 to 65 per cent only.
Wet milling of tur

In wet milling of tur the grains are soaked in water for a period of 3 to 12 hours. The
soaked pulses are thoroughly mixed with wet red earth at about 5 per cent level The
mixture * is kept in heaps over night. The whole mixture is then dried in the sun for 2
to 4 days until the husk of all grains are loosened. The pulses are tempered overnight
in between these days. The red earth is then separated from the pulses by sieving.
The sundried grains are dehusked and split in a disc sheller (chakki). Dhal and other
fractions are separated as usual. It is claimed that about 95 per cent of the grams can
be dehusked and split in a single milling operation. The split dhal is separated from the
mixture usually. The rest of the unhusked and husked whole grains are preconditioned
and milled as above for conversion of these grains into dhal. Though the above wet
milling of tur is popular in South India, the purpose of using earth is not well
understood. However, it is believed that the red earth facilitates in increasing the rate
of drying and in consequence in loosening the husk. So also the earth may act as a
milling aid on account of its abrasive nature. It is also considered that dhals produced
by following wet method are attractive in colour and good taste. The wet method
requires 5 to 7 days for complete processing of a batch of grains.
The flow diagram of wet milling of tur is given below
MODERN CFTRI METHOD of PULSES MILLING
Cleaning
Cleaning is done in rotary reel cleaners to remove all impurities
from pulses and separate them according to size.
The cleaned pulses are conditioned in two passes in a dryer (LSU type) using hot
air at about 120°C for a certain period of time. After each pass, the hot pulses are
tempered in the tempering bins for about six hours. The preconditioning of pulses
helps in loosening husk significantly.
Dehusking
The preconditioned pulses are conveyed to the Pearler or dehusker where almost all
pulses are dehusked in a single operation. The dehusked whole pulses (gota) are
separated from split pulses and mixture of husk, brokens, etc., and are received
in a screw conveyor where water is added at a controlled rate. The moistened
goto is then collected on the floor and allowed to remain as such for about an
hour.
The flow diagram of the modern milling of pulses by CFTRI Method as given
below is self-explanatory.

Lump Breaking
Some of the moistened gota form into lumps of varying sizes. These lumps are fed to
the lump breaker to break them.
Conditioning and Splitting
After lamp breaking the gota is conveyed to LSU type of dryer where it is exposed
to hot air for a few hours. The gota is thus dried to the proper moisture level for
splitting. The hot conditioned and dried dehusked whole pulses are split in the
emery roller. All of them are not split in one pass. The mixture is graded into
Grade 1 pulses, dehusked whole pulses and small brokers. The unsplit dehusked
pulses are again fed to the conditioner for subsequent splitting.