Title: Storability of organic and conventional sorghum grains at constant relative humidity, and varied temperatures

Authors: Bernard Darfour; Kurt A. Rosentrater

Addresses: Ghana Atomic Energy Commission, Radiation Technology Centre, Biotechnology and Nuclear Agriculture Research Institute, P.O. Box LG 80, Legon, Ghana ' Iowa State University, Department of Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering, Ames, IA, USA

Abstract: Sorghum (Sorghum bicolor L. Moench) is an ancient cereal grain while Sitophilus zeamais is a major damaging insect pest of grains. This study aimed to compare the storability of organic and conventional sorghum grains at a constant relative humidity (RH) and different temperatures. Susceptibility of the two grain types to S. zeamais as well as grain moisture effect, and the alteration in oxygen (O₂) and carbon dioxide (CO₂) concentrations in airtight jars were similarly studied. A completely randomised design was used in the study. The hermetic jars with S. zeamais had O₂ depleted from 21% to 7.6% while O₂ almost remained constant in the control. The CO₂ increased from 0.03% to 11.1%. High CO₂ and low O₂ were observed as temperature increased. S. zeamais mortality was 100% in the hermetic jars. Importantly, the quality and quantity of sorghum grains in the airtight jars did not change, especially at low temperatures.

Keywords: sorghum; relative humidity; RH; temperature; oxygen and carbon dioxide; mortality of insects.

DOI: 10.1504/IJPTI.2024.138690

International Journal of Postharvest Technology and Innovation, 2024 Vol.9 No.2, pp.110 - 127

Received: 21 Apr 2023
Accepted: 29 Sep 2023
Published online: 24 May 2024 *

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