Method of optimizing milling process using chemical imaging

A method of improving the separation of endosperm and nonendosperm material from a ground product within a sifting apparatus of a milling system, the sifting apparatus comprising a plurality of stacked sieves, each of the sieves comprising a screen having openings that permit particles of a predetermined size to pass therethrough during operation of the sifting apparatus, the method comprising:

• performing chemical imaging on at least one sample of the ground product taken from material flowing over or passing through one or more of said sieves to determine amounts of endosperm and nonendosperm material present in the ground product, said chemical imaging comprising acquiring spatially resolved spectroscopic imaging data for said at least one sample of the ground product and comparing pixels of the acquired imaging data with reference libraries of spectra developed from analytical standards for pure endosperm to determine a quantitative amount of endosperm present in the ground product;
• and
• changing at least one of the sieves within the sifting apparatus based on said chemical imaging to provide smaller or larger screen openings to improve separation of endosperm and nonendosperm material from the ground product by the sifting apparatus;
• wherein a plurality of samples are taken while the sifting apparatus is off-line, and said chemical imaging is performed on said plurality of samples.