Cereal Chem 39:35 - 43.  |  VIEW ARTICLE

Some Wet-Milling Properties of Artificially Dried Corn.

S. A. Watson and Y. Hirata. Copyright 1962 by the American Association of Cereal Chemists, Inc. 

Shelled corn artificially dried in two types of dryers, batch and continuous, has been examined for suitability for starch production by use of a laboratory procedure that measures the relative resistance to release of starch in steeped corn in wet-milling. Variables studied included drying temperature, initial grain moisture, relative humidity, and air-flow rate. Corn dried at 180 F. (82.2 C.) or higher showed evidence of reduced millability. Neither initial moisture of grain (batch dryer) nor air-flow rate (continuous dryer) has significant effect on milling results. High relative humidity in the batch dryer increased the degree of damage sustained by the corn dried at 180 F. (82.2 C.). Viability of the grain was reduced or destroyed by drying conditions less severe than those that adversely affected millability. The temperature which produced a significant crop in viability was found to be a function of the initial moisture of the grain and the relative humidity and flow rate of the drying air. A temperature of 140 F. (60 C.) destroyed the viability of 32%- moisture corn, but 160 F. (71.1 C.) was the lowest temperature that destroyed viability of 21%-moisture corn. Grain dried so as to preserve viability should invariably be suitable for wet-milling.