Quality of maize grains stored at different temperatures/ Qualidade de graos de milho armazenados em diferentes temperaturas

• Published in: Revista brasileira de engenharia agrícola e ambiental 2015-04, p.358
• Main Authors: Paraginski, Ricardo T, Rockenbach, Bruno A, dos Santos, Rodrigo F, Elias, Moacir C, de Oliveira, Mauricio
• Format: Article
• Language: Spanish
• ISSN: 1415-4366
• DOI: 10.1590/1807-1929/agriambi.v19n4p358-363

The storage temperature is one of the main factors that affect the quality of storage, and considering the fact that limited studies have been conducted with maize, this study aimed to evaluate the quality of maize grains stored at 5, 15, 25 and 35°C for 12 months. Analysis for classification of grain, moisture content, thousand grain weight, germination percentage, electrical conductivity and lipid content at the beginning, at 3, 6, 9 and 12 months of storage, and analysis of fatty acid profile were performed at the beginning and at the end of 12 months. The grains were classified as Type 1 until 6 months of storage, but after this period there was a drastic reduction in quality, being framed with below standard temperature of 25°C. The results of water content, thousand grain weight, germination, electrical conductivity, and fatty acid profile indicated that major changes were observed in grain storage at higher temperatures, especially at 25 and 35°C, indicating that the safe time for storage of grains under these conditions is less compared to storage at lower temperatures.