Abstract
Moisture content is an important factor in corn breeding and cultivation. A corn breed with low moisture at harvest is beneficial for mechanical operations, reduces drying and storage costs after harvesting and, thus, reduces energy consumption. Nondestructive measurement of kernel moisture in an intact corn ear allows us to select corn varieties with seeds that have high dehydration speeds in the mature period. We designed a sensor using a ring electrode pair for nondestructive measurement of the kernel moisture in a corn ear based on a high-frequency detection circuit. Through experiments using the effective scope of the electrodes’ electric field, we confirmed that the moisture in the corn cob has little effect on corn kernel moisture measurement. Before the sensor was applied in practice, we investigated temperature and conductivity effects on the output impedance. Results showed that the temperature was linearly related to the output impedance (both real and imaginary parts) of the measurement electrodes and the detection circuit’s output voltage. However, the conductivity has a non-monotonic dependence on the output impedance (both real and imaginary parts) of the measurement electrodes and the output voltage of the high-frequency detection circuit. Therefore, we reduced the effect of conductivity on the measurement results through measurement frequency selection. Corn moisture measurement results showed a quadric regression between corn ear moisture and the imaginary part of the output impedance, and there is also a quadric regression between corn kernel moisture and the high-frequency detection circuit output voltage at 100 MHz. In this study, two corn breeds were measured using our sensor and gave R2 values for the quadric regression equation of 0.7853 and 0.8496.
Highlights
Corn is one of the world’s most widely used food crops
The experiments showed that that the the electric in the directions of the electrode are concentrated in a very small space, which is consistent with the areare concentrated in a in very small small space, space, which is consistent with the electrode directions of ofthe theelectrode electrode concentrated a very which is consistent with the electrode electric field simulation results above
To meet measurement requirements for maize breeding, we developed a noninvasive in situ measurement method and a reliable prototype sensor to determine corn kernel moisture content
Summary
Corn is one of the world’s most widely used food crops. Global corn yields in 2015–2016 were1.0111 billion tons [1]. Corn is one of the world’s most widely used food crops. 1.0111 billion tons [1]. The moisture content of corn is an important factor in corn breeding and cultivation. Corn breeds with low moisture content offer the advantages of simple mechanical operations and reduced drying and storage costs after harvest and, reduce energy consumption. Since Miller et al [2] discovered that the moisture content is higher in later-maturing varieties of corn at harvest, a great deal of work has been performed on the corn kernel filling periods and the physiological maturity of seeds by both breeders and botanists. Kang and co-researchers [3] found
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
