Sanitary quality of corn seeds submitted to different drying temperatures

Abstract

The fungi that appear during storage demand less water for their development, therefore they proliferate with greater intensity in the grain mass in the post-harvest period. However, field fungi contaminate the grains during the cultivation and development of the plants in the field because they require environments with relative humidity higher than 80%. Storage fungi are found in large numbers in warehouses, mills, garners, hoppers, elevators, equipment and places where agricultural products are stored, handled and processed. In this context, the objective of the research was to evaluate the effect of drying temperatures on the sanitary quality of the corn seed in storage in two types of packages under uncontrolled environmental conditions. It was used the Dow Agrosciences variety with initial moisture of 26%. Three temperature combinations of drying air were used: 40-45°C; 50-55°C and 70-75°C and the control temperature was sun drying. The experiment was conducted in randomized complete design, and for the two types of packaging there were four treatments, consisting of a storage environment and three sampling times for evaluations, in factorial arrangement, with three replications per treatment of temperatures. The drying temperature combination of 70-75°C was the one that most influenced the reduction of the main storage fungi in the paper packaging grains during the four and six-month periods of storage.