Cereal Chem 67:322-326   |  VIEW ARTICLE

Physical Properties of Various Fractions in Commercial Corn Samples.

A. Song, D. S. Chung, C. K. Spillman, and S. R. Eckhoff. Copyright 1990 by the American Association of Cereal Chemists, Inc. 

Separation of fractions in a grain mixture is usually based on physical and aerodynamic characteristics of grain. In this study, commercial corn samples were separated into whole kernels, broken kernels, and light materials. Air flotation velocity, length, width, thickness, weight, density, and moisture were measured. Geometric dimensions and air flotation velocity both followed Weibull distribution. Through cumulative distribution analyses, we were able to see how these properties could be used to obtain complete separation of whole kernels from a given sample. Results indicated that complete removal of broken kernels was infeasible, whereas light materials could be aspirated from whole kernels completely. The effects of moisture content and particle size on densities and porosity were investigated. True density linearly decreased with an increase in moisture content. Bulk density was a third-order polynomial function of moisture. As particle sizes decreased, measured true density and porosity increased and bulk density decreased.