Cereal Chem 42:385 - 396.  |  VIEW ARTICLE

Comparison of the Rates of Absorption of Water by Corn Kernels with and Without Dissolved Sulfur Dioxide.

L.-t. Fan, H.-C. Chen, J. A. Shellenberger, and D. S. Chung. Copyright 1965 by the American Association of Cereal Chemists, Inc. 

Diffusion of water into kernels of three varieties of corn steeped in both aqueous SO2 solution and in water was investigated quantitatively at temperatures ranging from 10 to 71 C. Absorption rate of water in SO2 solution as well as in water followed approximately the diffusion equation based on Fick's law.Adding SO2 in water has two extreme effects on absorption rate, a retarding effect at the onset of steeping and then an accelerating effect. For Gold Rush sweet corn the retarding effect was appreciable, for K-4 hybrid popcorn it was comparatively small, and for DeKalb dent corn it was almost negligible. On the other hand, the accelerating effect was small for Gold Rush sweet corn, but quite appreciable for K-4 hybrid popcorn and DeKalb dent corn. At all temperatures, absorption rate was slower in SO2 solution than in water in the initial period of steeping, but this was reversed as absorption time increased. The higher the steeping temperature, the sooner the reversion took place. The acceleration in absorption rate increased with increasing temperature; but at about the gelatinization temperature of starch the difference decreased after a certin period of absorption.