Cereal Chem 68:464-467   |  VIEW ARTICLE

Effects of Kernel Size and Genotype on Popcorn Popping Volume and Number of Unpopped Kernels.

A. Song, S. R. Eckhoff, M. Paulsen, and J. B. Litchfield. Copyright 1991 by the American Association of Cereal Chemists, Inc. 

Four genotypes of commercial yellow popcorn (proprietary hybrids) were screened with 4.36-, 4.76-, 5.16-, 5.56-, and 5.95-mm (11/64-, 12/64-, 13/64-, 14/64-, and 15/64-in.) round-hole sieves to generate five size fractions. The five fractions were conditioned in an environmental chamber at 22.2 C and 70% relative humidity, popped in a Cretors Metric Weight Volume Tester at 243 C (250-g samples), and compared to control samples containing kernels of different sizes in naturally occurring proportions. The 5.16- to 5.56- mm fraction had the highest popping volume and the lowest number of unpopped kernels (UPKs); the 4.36- to 4.75-mm fraction had the lowest popping volume and the greatest number of UPKs. For one of the varieties studied, the difference between the popping volumes of the size fractions reached as high as 11% (from 40.8 to 45.1 cm3/g). The popping volume of middle-sized kernels of all the varieties studied was 2% higher in general than that of the control samples. The average number of UPKs ranged from 13 to 45. The weight percentage of UPKs varied from 0.62 to 1.56%. The popping volume of the 5.16- to 5.56-mm fraction of different genotypes varied from 45.1 to 47.2 cm3/g., and the number of UPKs ranged from 13 to 23. Statistical analyses indicated that the popcorn genotype and kernel size significantly affected the popping volume and the number of UPKs.