Cereal Chem 40:266 - 268.  |  VIEW ARTICLE

Corn Carotenoids: Effects of Temperature and Moisture on Losses During Storage.

F. W. Quackenbush. Copyright 1963 by the American Association of Cereal Chemists, Inc. 

Shelled dent corn from the seed of a single cross of high carotene parentage was stored in the dark for 3 years at 3 and 11% moisture and at 7 and 25 C. Losses of total carotenoid pigments, most rapid during the early part of the storage period, were approximately a logarithmic function of time. Temperature exerted a greater influence than moisture content. The carotene fraction was the least stable pigment fraction. Half of the initial carotene was lost at 7 C.; three-quarters was lost at 25 C. Losses of zeinoxanthin and the carotendiols (lutein and zeaxanthin) were about equal and all occurred at slower rates than that of carotene. Today's yellow hybrids, which tend to be comparatively low in pigments initially, may fall to very low levels after long storage periods.