Agriculturae Conspectus Scientificus, Vol 67, No 3 (2002)

The Influence of Rehydration on Breakage Susceptibility of Corn Kernels Hybrid Bc 492

Stjepan PLIESTIĆ

Pages: 161-168

Summary


Rehydrating corn kernels hybrid Bc 492 from 10% to 14,5% moisture content by adding distilled water or by mixing with higher moisture content corn kernels was effective in reducing breakage susceptibility. The extent to wich breakage susceptibility was reduced varied with the rehydration method and the amount of moisture added in a single rehydration step. Approximately 16 h were required for the rehydration process when adding water, and about 72 h for mixing samples. Mixing was a more effective rehydration method, resulting in breakage susceptibility levels no higher than for a control samples dried to 14,5%. The effectiveness of rehydrating by adding distilled water was limited by stress cracks which developed during the rehydration process. Stress crack developed was minimized by rehydrating in moisture content steps of 1,5% or less when adding distilled water. Brekage susceptibility for the mixing samples was generally lower than for the corn kernels rehydrated by water addition. Values for the mixing samples ranged from 3,0 to 3,5%. This compares to a range of 3,3 to 6,3 for the water addition samples.

Keywords


rehydration; breakage susceptibility; moisture content; corn kernel

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