Presentation on Pretreatment Techniques and Moisture Content of Torreya grandis ‘Merrillii’ Seed

Presentation was made on the best pretreatment techniques of Torreya grandis ‘Merrillii’ seeds, such as harvesting, husking, composting, cleaning and drying. Determinations were implemented on tannin and moisture content in kernel during the process of seed composting. The results showed that the soluble tannin content in seed coat and kernel decreased with the duration of postripening, and about 3-4 mg/g by the end of postripening. There had great differences of the moisture content of kernels provided by different manufacturers. The moisture content measured by weighing method was 7.8%-17.8%, while 5.0%-13.8% by moisture tester, lower than that by weighing method, but with similar trend. Moisture tester had good repeatibility, and the coefficient of variation between repetitions tended to 0.01.