LOSS OF DRY MATTER IN GRAIN CORN STORED UNDER DIFFERENT CONDITIONS AND EFFECTS ON QUALITY

Resumo

The corn is the most used raw materials in the diets of animals and also for human consumption. Thus, this study aimed to evaluate the loss of dry matter of corn stored in climate chambers under different conditions of temperature and relative humidity (10 °C and 90% RH, 30 °C and 40% RH). The experiment was conducted in the area of ​​Pre-Processing and Storage of Agricultural Products, Federal University of Viçosa, MG, Brazil. The grains of corn (Zea mays L.) were stored in bags and chambers, in a completely randomized factorial (2x2x5), two types of corn (quality and deteriorated), two temperatures and relative humidity of storage (10% and 90 ⁰C, 30 ⁰C and 40%) and five storage times (zero, three, six, nine and twelve month). A total 4,000 kg of corn was used, divided into four lots of 1,000 kilograms. The following results were obtained: corn deteriorated showed higher dry matter losses during the storage time, the conditions of 10 °C and 90% RH air influence on the loss of dry matter, the physical quality of corn grain was lower for the conditions of 30 °C and 90% RH air, when we obtained lower dry matter losses, the microbiological was directly influenced by the loss of dry matter of corn. It was concluded that, irrespective of the loss of dry matter of corn, product quality was reduced from three months of storage, being the worst results for the conditions of 10 °C and 90% RH in air and corn deteriorated.