Quantifying corn deterioration due to fungal growth by use of CO₂-sensitive gel
2006
Chitrakar, S. | Bern, C.J. | Shrestha, D.S.
Carbon dioxide (CO2) generation is a useful measure of aerobic respiration of the microbes that decompose organic materials. Woods End Labs markets the Solvita test kit to measure CO2 generated by samples of compost or soil. A procedure was developed to use the Solvita kit to quantify the storage condition of shelled corn. The ISU-Solvita Corn Testing Procedure uses shelled corn stored at 20 degrees C. After a 24-h incubation period, a CO2-sensitive gel coated paddle is sealed in a jar containing 100 g of corn. After 4 h, the CO2 level in the jar is indicated by the color of the gel. The ISU-Solvita Corn Testing Procedure was shown to be capable of quantifying the storage state of corn over a range of moistures and durations of incubation after re-wetting. A linear relation was observed between corn moisture and measured %CO2 for moistures between 18% and 22%. An exponential relation was observed between measured %CO2 and storage times of 20% moisture corn from 3 to 12 days at 27 degrees C. In other tests in which samples were rewetted to 20% moisture and incubated 24 h, there was no relationship between corn with visible mechanical damage or corn bulk density and measured CO2.
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