A 3D printed grinder adaptor for streamlined sample processing

In agricultural research, sample preparation for any type of post-harvest analysis is very time consuming. After harvesting samples, they generally need to be ground before further analysis. Grinding plant samples can be accomplished by either an abrasive type or blade type grinders. The abrasive type provides relatively uniform particle size; therefore, it is preferred to prepare material for analytical assays (1 mm). The Foss Cyclotec CT293 grinder comes with a glass container that needs to be removed and cleaned after each sample is ground. We developed a 3D printed adaptor cone that does not need to be removed after each sample and is cleaned when compressed air is vented through the machine to remove residual sample from the abrasive ring. This hardware reduces 27 % of time required for processing per sample (n = 60) and allows for direct sample grinding into different sample storage containers.