Comparison of methodologies for determination total humidity in hard corn (<i>Zea mays</i> L.)

Abstract

The importance of humidity moisture determination for storage and harvesting lies in the quality and safety of raw materials, process control and food preservation. There is research that comparing methodologies with significant differences, but none is applied in to hard corn, so in this paper the following objectives are established: 1) Develop standards of hard corn with seven degrees of humidity to ensure homogeneity. 2) Compare six different methodologies for determining of determination of humidity in the ranges of 10-16%. A homogeneity test was performed using the equation of Gough, 1975 and a statistical (DBCA). After verifying that the batches of corn were homogeneous within and between the bags, we proceeded to compare five methodologies in which where an analysis of variance was applied, followed by a Tukey test at 5%. For the homogeneity results inside and between the covers, the lots were homogeneous. For the results of the comparison of methodologies, significant statistical differences were found in the application of one method over the other, finally then, it was made with regression equations the corrections of the moisture results obtained from the different methodologies in relation to the ISO reference method.