Quality of corn grains subjected to drying using direct-fired furnace fed with eucalyptus chips and firewood

Abstract

The objective of this study was to evaluate the drying system using a dryer with furnace automatically fed with eucalyptus chips and another dryer manually fed with eucalyptus firewood, as well as assessing the quality of corn grains. Harvest was mechanically performed and the grains were transported by trucks to the storage unit for drying. Corn grain drying was conducted in mixed-flow dryers with a nominal capacity of 100 tons per hour. For air heating, two direct-fired furnaces were used, one automatically fed with eucalyptus chips and the other manually fed with firewood. Corn grains were evaluated for moisture content, apparent specific mass, thousand-grain weight, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), electrical conductivity and color. Drying corn grains with direct fire using firewood or chips as fuel causes contamination by PAHs. In general, the use of firewood or chips did not influence the quality of thousand-grain weight, apparent specific mass and color, while the use of chips increased electrical conductivity. It is essential that research advances in this subject, prioritizing the contamination of food, with proven carcinogenic activity, which should be treated as a high risk to public health.

Corn grains drying using direct-fired furnace with wood chips: Performance, quality and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons

“…These heavier compounds, in addition to being more stable, have a higher lipophilic character, a characteristic that facilitates their absorption by the material (Rey-Salgueiro et al, 2009), and are considered more dangerous in relation to the carcinogenic and mutagenic properties. Resende et al (2022) also detected the presence of PAHs with high MM in corn grains after drying with direct-fire furnace. Lima et al (2017) evaluated the contamination by PAHs in corn grains submitted to drying at different temperatures using eucalyptus firewood, and detected seven compounds with high values, four (pyrene, phenanthrene, fluorene and anthracene) of low MM (<128 to 202) and three (fluoranthene, benzo(a) anthracene and chrysene) of high MM (between 228 and 278); these values were justified due to the long exposure time of the product, 780 and 450 min, in the use of the drying temperature, 60 and 80 ºC, respectively.…”

“…There are several studies on the occurrence of PAHs in different types of products, including smoked meat sausages (Mirbod et al, 2022), corn grains (Resende et al, 2022;Silva et al, 2018;Lima et al, 2017), soybeans (Quequeto et al, 2022), grilled meat (Siddique et al, 2021), canola, sunflower and corn oils (Molle et al, 2017), infant milk and cereals (Rey-Salgueiro et al, 2009), yerba mate (Vieira et al, 2010), toasted bread (Rey-Salgueiro et al, 2008). For the children's scenario, if we use only B(a)P as a parameter for the evaluation of contamination, the mean values detected in this study would be in accordance with the European Union Law No.…”

Performance of industrial drying and soybean grains quality

“…In an experiment carried out by Rojo Camargo et al (2011), relatively high and variable levels of PAHs (10.4 to 112.0 µg/kg) were identified in 42 samples of commercially available soybean oils in the Brazilian market. Several other studies were carried out with different products on the occurrence of PAH contamination, such as corn grains (Resende et al, 2022;Silva et al, 2018), soybeans (Quequeto et al, 2022b), smoked meat sausages (Mirbod et al, 2022), grilled meat (Siddique et al, 2021), canola, sunflower and corn oils (Molle et al, 2017), infant milk and cereals (Rey-Salgueiro et al, 2009), yerba mate (Vieira et al, 2010), toasted bread (Rey-Salgueiro et al, 2008).…”

Development and evaluation of a wood furnace for grain drying

“…The results obtained for the moisture content, higher calorific value, ash content, percentage volatility and specific mass of the fuel are presented in Table 9. , 2019;LUBWAMA et al, 2021;RESENDE et al, 2022).…”