Vol. 10, Special Issue 12 (2021)

Author(s):
Ashulata Netam, Kishan Kumar Patel and RK Naik

Abstract:
The physical property of maize cob and grains plays a significant role in designing of various components of maize sheller machine. The physical properties of maize grain were investigated for three variety of maize i.e. NK30, JKMH4222 and Bio 9544 at three moisture level of 12, 14 and 16 per cent (db). Area of the woody ring was found to be highest (206.47 mm2) followed by area of glume, area of pith. Maize cob is composed of three tissue fractions, chaff, woody ring, and pith, with dry weight percentages of 22.1%, 76.5%, and 1.4%, respectively. The mean value of top diameter (D_t), upper diameter (D_u), middle diameter (D_m), lower diameter (D_l) and bottom diameter (D_b) 97 of the maize cob were 44.4, 48.1, 52.5, 53.5and 55.4 cm respectively. The linear dimensions i.e. length, width, thickness and geometric mean diameter (GMD) of maize grains increased with increase in moisture content for all three varieties. The highest length, width and thickness were observed for the NK 30 of maize as 11.40, 8.56 and 4.50 mm, respectively. Furthermore, the highest surface area, 1000 grain weight and roundness were observed for the NK 30 of maize as 180.71 mm², 252.85 g and 4.67 mm, respectively at moisture content of 16%.