The role of laboratory equipment in ensuring grain quality

According to the State Customs Service, as of May 9, 2025, Ukraine exported 36.182 million tons of grain and leguminous crops in the 2024/25 marketing year (MY). Of these, 960 thousand tons were shipped in May. For comparison, for the same period in 2023/24 MY, exports amounted to 42.91 million tons, including 1.551 million tons in May, which indicates a decrease in volumes by 15.7%, the press service of the Ministry of Agrarian Policy of Ukraine reported.

The export structure since the beginning of the current season looks like this:

  • Wheat: 14.177 million tons (versus 16.386 million tons in 2023/24 MY, -13.5%);
  • Barley: 2.283 million tons (2.235 million tons, +2.1%);
  • Rye: 10.8 thousand tons (1.3 thousand tons, an 8-fold increase);
  • Corn: 19.199 million tons (23.807 million tons, -19.4%).

Flour exports also decreased: as of May 9, 2025, 59.9 thousand tons were shipped, of which 55.7 thousand tons of wheat flour. In the 2023/24 MY, these figures were 88.7 thousand tons and 83.8 thousand tons, respectively, which indicates a decrease of 32.5%.

Despite the decrease in volumes, Ukraine remains a key player in the global grain market. Ensuring high quality of export products is critically important for maintaining competitiveness, especially in the context of increasing requirements of international standards.

The importance of laboratory equipment for grain quality

In order for export batches of grain to comply with international standards, such as ISO 22000 or DSTU 3768:2019, it is necessary to use modern laboratory equipment. Grain quality analysis devices, such as Infracont analyzers, and automatic samplers, such as Borghi SP, to ensure accuracy and efficiency of control.

Infracont Grain Analyzer

Infracont analyzers, based on near-infrared spectroscopy (NIR), allow you to determine key grain quality indicators in 1-2 minutes: moisture, protein, gluten, fat and starch content. Key advantages:

  • Speed: analysis results are available in less than 2 minutes, which is critical for large export volumes.
  • Accuracy: the error does not exceed 0.2-0.5%, which meets the requirements of international standards.
  • Versatility: suitable for cereals, legumes and oilseeds without complex sample preparation.

Such devices help elevators and exporters avoid fines for quality non-compliance and optimize drying and storage processes, reducing losses.