Desempenho de diferentes estrategias de aeração de milho armazenado / Performance of different aeration strategies for stored corn

AUTOR(ES)
DATA DE PUBLICAÇÃO

2010

RESUMO

The efficiency of grain storage doesn t consist only to "save" the agricultural production, but mainly to avoid the problem with the moisture migration, incidence of insects and development of microorganism in grains, during the process. Aeration is currently used for reducing and homogenization the intergranular temperature, aiming to minimize these problems. This practice consists of blowing ambient air through the grain mass. The objective of this research was to evaluate and compare the performance of three different strategies for aeration of corn grains, stored for twenty-four days. The strategies were: (1) a continuously system; (2) an aeration system activated only during the night and (3) an aeration system operating only when the relative humidity environment corresponds to the grains equilibrium moisture content. Corn grains at two different moisture content levels, 13 and 18% were used. Continuous monitoring of temperature was carried out through 12 sensors installed inside the bins. Grain samples were taken during the experiments for determination of moisture content, mold counts and electrical conductivity. At the end of the tests, all aeration strategies showed temperature reduction in to the bins with dried grain dry grains (11%) and wet grain (16,8%). However, any strategy maintained the homogeneous temperature inside the grain during the storage period. It is emphasized, however, that the continuous aeration system applied to the wet corn grain allowed low heterogeneity in the temperature along of the height of grain mass, and avoided the growth of mold. Grain moisture content changed during the experimental time with tendency of drying at the end of the process. There was a high occurrence of field mold in the grains, mainly Fusarium and Penicillium. Electrical conductivity of corn grains remained constant along the storage time. Aeration promoted cooling of the grains, however the temperature levels were high and appropriate conducive to the incidence of insects. Therefore, aeration should be a part of integrated pest management, but not the only tool

ASSUNTO(S)

temperatura grain corn grain aeration temperature humidity milho - armazenamento umidade cereais - conservação aeração de grãos

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