Effects of different drying methods and length of storage on quality of seed maize variety Obaatanpa
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Date
August, 2015
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Abstract
The main objective of the research was to identify appropriate drying and storage
technologies for improving seed quality by enhancing healthy seedlings. Th e design
of the experiment was 2 × 4 factorial arrangement in complete randomized design
(CRD). The factors were drying methods at two levels: sun and oven drying; Storage
durations at four levels: 0, 30, 60 and 90 days. The results depicted that, sun drying
resulted in the highest percent (1.69%) of weevil infestation of Obaatanpa maize than
oven drying with the least (1.00%). For iron content, sun drying had the higher
length of drying period (21.82%), than the oven drying which had the least days of
drying (15.32%). Among the storage durations, the highest iron content was obtained
at 60 days (20.0%), similarly higher in 30 and 90 days. The least iron content was
obtained at 0 day (15.5%). The highest potassium content was obtained from sun
drying (0.13%) and the least was observed from oven drying (0.1%). In addition,
both sun and oven drying at 30 and 90 days storage duration had the highest ash
content (1.5%) and the oven drying at 90 days (0.8%) had the least, while at 30 days
storage durations had the highest ash content (1.46%) and the lowest from the 0 day
of storage (1.08%). Between the drying methods there were no significant
differences. The highest percent of seed carbohydrate content was obtained at 90
days (73.94%) and was similarly higher from 0 and 30 days. The lowest was
obtained at 60 days (70.62%). For seed germination test, sun drying revealed the
highest percentage of seed germination and the lowest was observed for oven drying
while storing for 30 days resulted in the highest seed viability. The least seed
viability was recorded for 60 days of storage. A total of five pathogen species were
identified (Collectotrichum spp., Aspergillus flavus, Aspergillus niger, Penicillium
spp. and Rhizopus spp.). The highest occurrence of fungal infestation was observed
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from 30 to 60 days after storage while, sun dried seed showed highest occurrence of
the pathogens compared to the oven dried seeds.
Description
A Thesis Submitted to the Department of Horticulture, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology in Partial fulfillment of Requirement for the Degree of Master of Philosophy (Seed Science and Technology), 2015