The maize (Zea mays L.) crop holds strategic importance for food and feed industries in Azerbaijan and worldwide. During production processing, the kernels’ damage directly affects grain storage durability and quality. When feeding husked ears into stationary threshers, kernel damage considerably increases, causing serious losses in the food industry and seed production. However, to minimize these threshing problems, the preliminary use of rubber-surfaced roller husk removers is of foremost importance. These husk removers separate the husks more smoothly from the cobs, considerably reducing mechanical damage to the kernels, and consequently, the product quality improves and decreases processing losses. In the presented study, the best possible ear deformation angle (ψₐ) that ensures prompt and delay-free husk removal reached successful determination experimentally for three Zaqatala maize cultivars. This parameter plays an important role in minimizing kernel damage during mechanical processing. Experiments conducted had maize ear moisture contents of 28.8%–32.4%, which also seemed the optimal technological condition for maize processing. The results revealed that correct selection of the ear deformation angle preserves kernels’ integrity while concurrently increasing productivity of the processing equipment. These parameters will enable the development of more efficient technologies in the future.
Maize (Z. mays L.), husk removal, ear deformation angle, rubber roller husker, postharvest technology, Zaqatala maize cultivars, kernel damage reduction
The maize (Z. mays L.) ear deformation angle (ψₐ) considerably enhanced with rising husk pulling speed. Within the compressive force range of 85–457 N, the effect on the optimal angle was minimal. A 90° pressure direction combined with a roller surface that follows the ear curve considerably reduced the risk of kernel damage in maize.