Vol. 11, Special Issue 5 (2022)

Author(s):
Kapil Kumar, Jaivir Singh, Suresh Chandra, BR Singh, Neelash Chauhan and MK Yadav

Abstract:
Corn (Zea mays L.) also known as maize, the hydration characteristic of it was studied by soaking of kernels in to water at 30, 40, 50, 60, 70, 80 and 90 ⁰C. The samples of corn kernels, about 20g each, were weighed using an electronic balance. Each sample was placed in a flask containing 250 ml of water. The flasks were placed in water bath. Individual flasks were removed from the water bath at 1, 3, 5, 10, 20, 35, 60, 120, 300, 700, 1440 and 1800 min. the kernels were dried using blotting paper to eliminate the surface water. The weight gain due to the hydration process was determined in terms of moisture content (% d.b.). Water absorption rate was high at the early stage of hydration and the gradual increase in the absorption up to 300 min and after 300 min the curve becomes liner for water absorption. The agreement between experimental and estimated values of hydration data (R² = 0.9086-0.9463) confirmed that Peleg’s equation could be used to describe the hydration characteristics of maize under the experimental condition considered.