BREAKAGE SUSCEPTIBILITY OF BLENDED COR

A test of the breakage susceptibility of blended corn was conducted in four levels of moisture content of dry corn (8, 9, 11 and 8.9% desiccant) and two levels of theoretical moisture content of blend (15.5 and 20%). Each level of blend was obtained by blending appropriate weights of wet corn from the field at 24.4% moisture content with dry corn.;After 4 days storage, samples were separated into wet, dry and blended portions. These portions were kept in separate sealed jars and left three days in the cold room while awaiting moisture determination.;When the moisture of separated portions was known, they were conditioned to 12.8 (+OR-) 0.2% moisture by natural air at 20(DEGREES)C and held at 2(DEGREES)C for two days to equalize moisture before breakage testing. A Stein breakage tester was used in this experiment; the duration of breakage test was 4 minutes.;The results of the study showed that the moisture content of portions do not equalize in 4 days in storage. The difference in moisture contents between the wet and dry portion is larger at the l5.5% theoretical moisture of blend than at 20% theoretical moisture of blend.;Blending wet and dry corn to 15.5% and 20% theoretical moisture of blend will increase the breakage susceptibility of corn. The breakage susceptibility increases with a decrease in moisture content of dry portions and this breakage susceptibility is higher at the 20% theoretical moisture of blend than at 15.5% theoretical moisture of blend. The differences in breakage between breakage of blend and control breakage ranged from 0.74 to 4.47% for the 15.5% moisture of blend and from 1.54 to 10.6% for the 20% moisture of blend.;The breakage in handling due to blended corn can be predicted based on the ratio of Stein breakage tester and actual breakage. For a farm system, the increase BCFM due to blending wet and dry corn is likely to be from 0.1 to 1.7%. This breakage is not to result in a discount at the time of sale.