Losses of Corn in the Storage PDF

Keywords

corn, fungal infection, seed germination

Abstract

A resistant and a susceptible corn hybrids were stored for 50 days at 22 % moisture content in storage unit of 1 Kg capacity at 26°C. The hybrids were tested by measuring the dry matter loss which was obtained by determining the amount of carbon dioxide evolved from respiration of stored grains. This measure indicates deterioration rate of grain in storage. Fungal growth in these hybrids was also analyzed. Analysis includes percentage of fungal infection, visible fungi in addition to grain germination rates. This study indicated that percentage of fungal infection and loss rate in the stored grain weight increased upon increasing of storage time. All tests, indicated deterioration and decrease of seed germination in the resistant corn hybrid to be significantly less than in the susceptible corn hybrid.