A simple and inexpensive de ice for assessing the impact damage of grains has been designed and fabricated. The materials for the device are readily available in developing countries, and the device can be fabricated in most workshops. The device has been used to assess the impact damage on bambara groundnuts. It was found that at all grain moisture contents studied, grain damage increased as the grain impact velocity increased. A semi-logarithmic relationship was found to exist between grain damage and grain impact velocity at 10%, 20%, and 30% grain moisture contents, while a linear relationship was found at 40% grain moisture content. At all grain impact velocities Studied. grain damage decreased linearly with increase in grain moisture content. A semi-logarithmic relationship was found to exist between the rate of decrease in grain damage and grain impact velocity. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.