Husk
Encyclopedia
Husk in botany
Botany
Botany, plant science, or plant biology is a branch of biology that involves the scientific study of plant life. Traditionally, botany also included the study of fungi, algae and viruses...

 is the outer shell or coating of a seed. It often refers to the leafy outer covering of an ear of maize
Maize
Maize known in many English-speaking countries as corn or mielie/mealie, is a grain domesticated by indigenous peoples in Mesoamerica in prehistoric times. The leafy stalk produces ears which contain seeds called kernels. Though technically a grain, maize kernels are used in cooking as a vegetable...

 (corn) as it grows on the plant. Literally, a husk or hull includes the protective outer covering of a seed
Seed
A seed is a small embryonic plant enclosed in a covering called the seed coat, usually with some stored food. It is the product of the ripened ovule of gymnosperm and angiosperm plants which occurs after fertilization and some growth within the mother plant...

, fruit
Fruit
In broad terms, a fruit is a structure of a plant that contains its seeds.The term has different meanings dependent on context. In non-technical usage, such as food preparation, fruit normally means the fleshy seed-associated structures of certain plants that are sweet and edible in the raw state,...

 or vegetable
Vegetable
The noun vegetable usually means an edible plant or part of a plant other than a sweet fruit or seed. This typically means the leaf, stem, or root of a plant....

. It can also refer to the exuvia
Exuvia
Exuviae is a term used in biology to describe the remains of an exoskeleton and related structures that are left after ecdysozoans have moulted...

 of bugs or small animals left behind after moulting
Ecdysis
Ecdysis is the moulting of the cuticula in many invertebrates. This process of moulting is the defining feature of the clade Ecdysozoa, comprising the arthropods, nematodes, velvet worms, horsehair worms, rotifers, tardigrades and Cephalorhyncha...

.

Plantago-seed mucilage is often referred to as husk, or psyllium
Psyllium
Psyllium , or Ispaghula , is the common name used for several members of the plant genus Plantago whose seeds are used commercially for the production of mucilage.-History:...

 husk.

Husking and dehulling

Husking of corn is the process of removal of its inner layers, leaving only the cob
Maize
Maize known in many English-speaking countries as corn or mielie/mealie, is a grain domesticated by indigenous peoples in Mesoamerica in prehistoric times. The leafy stalk produces ears which contain seeds called kernels. Though technically a grain, maize kernels are used in cooking as a vegetable...

 or seed rack of the corn.

Dehulling is the process of removing the hulls (or chaff
Chaff
Chaff is the dry, scaly protective casings of the seeds of cereal grain, or similar fine, dry, scaly plant material such as scaly parts of flowers, or finely chopped straw...

) from beans and other seeds
SEEDS
SEEDS is a voluntary organisation registered under the Societies Act of India....

. This is sometimes done using a machine known as a huller
Huller
A rice huller or rice husker is an agricultural machine used to automate the process of removing the chaff and the outer husks of rice grain. Throughout history, there have been numerous techniques to hull rice. Traditionally, it would be pounded using some form of mortar and pestle. Machinery...

. To prepare the seeds to have oils extracted from them, they are cleaned to remove any foreign objects. Next, the seeds have their hulls, or outer coverings, or husk, removed. There are three different types of dehulling systems that can be used to process soybeans: Hot Dehulling, Warm Dehulling and Cold Dehulling. Hot Dehulling is the system offered in areas where beans are processed directly from the field. Warm Dehulling is often used by processors who import their soybeans. Cold Dehulling is offered to plants that have existing drying and conditioning equipment, but need to add dehulling equipment to produce high protein meal. The different dehulling temperature
Temperature
Temperature is a physical property of matter that quantitatively expresses the common notions of hot and cold. Objects of low temperature are cold, while various degrees of higher temperatures are referred to as warm or hot...

 options are for different types of production, beans and preparation equipment.

See also

  • Chaff
    Chaff
    Chaff is the dry, scaly protective casings of the seeds of cereal grain, or similar fine, dry, scaly plant material such as scaly parts of flowers, or finely chopped straw...

  • Gum (botany)
    Gum (botany)
    Gum is a sap or other resinous material associated with certain species of the plant kingdom. This material is often polysaccharide-based and most frequently is associated with woody plants, particularly under the bark or as a seed coating...

  • Horsebread
    Horsebread
    Horsebread was a type of bread commonly consumed in medieval Europe. This bread was a low-quality bread, made from legumes as well as, or instead of grains, and was one of the cheapest breads available. It was fed to horses but also eaten by the indigent and those who could not afford white bread...

    (a type of bread in which the chaff is not removed)
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