ABSTRACT:
The gap in the storage industry has brought a series of problems for the agro industrial market today, as its ability to directly infer the quality of newly collected material. The present study was carried out with the objective of evaluating the quality of second crop corn harvested with different water contents depending on the period until drying. The corn grains were harvested with moisture contents of approximately 28.5; 22.4; 21 and 19%, and subjected to temporary storage for ten days, simulating the time between harvest and drying. In the period, every two days the quality was evaluated by determining the specific mass, electrical conductivity, color, crude protein content, ethereal extract, ashes and carbohydrates. Based on the obtained results it is concluded that: the increase in the harvest water content negatively influenced the quality of the produced corn in the second harvest, being this effect worsened with time. The harvest moisture content of 19% is the least that affected the quality of the grains during 10 days of temporary storage.
KEY WORDS:
Zea mays L.; grain quality; post-harvest
