A Revolutionary Approach in Grain Preservation
Dr Naveen Kumar Business Director- South Asia
Delst 1
StorageWill Not Improve Maize Quality
Good Storage Management
An Effective Storage Program
Reduces spoilage and degradation of grain quality
Maize
Preservation in
Storage
Current Status
4
WE are aware that…
Visual Appearance of corn isa good indicator of its quality.Degraded corn has a verydistinctive appearance,especially around the germarea.
Good Quality Corn
Good quality uncontaminated corn
Discolored Germ – a sign of mold growth
Poor quality live mold contaminated corn
Typical degraded corn at silo bottom
Damaged Kernel
• Discoloration
• Germ damage
• Moisture Loss
• Dry matter loss
• Nutritional loss
• Live Mold Contamination
• Insect Infestation
Important to understand root
causes of problems
It is common knowledge that
live mold is the cause of grain
damage over storage.
Hence a very common solution
is to use a good mold inhibitor,
but the problems persist!
There are basically 2 flaws with the
typical mold inhibitor approach:
• Very unstable
• No address on water activities
(aw)
Three generations of Propionate and their residual value
0
100
200
300
400
500
600
700
800
900
1000
0
Storage Time >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Pro
pio
nic
Io
n (
pp
m)
Pure Propionic Acid
Regular Ammonium Propionate
DMX-7
18 %
16 %
14 %
M oist.
Hot Spot
Hot SpotHot Spot
Hot Spot
Hot Spot Hot SpotHot Spot
Three generations of Propionate and their residual value
0
100
200
300
400
500
600
700
800
900
1000
0
Storage Time >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Pro
pio
nic
Io
n (
pp
m)
Pure Propionic Acid
Regular Ammonium Propionate
DMX-7
18 %
16 %
14 %
M oist.
MOISTURE
Managing Moisture
• Grain Storage is all about Moisture
Management
• Very important to prevent movement of free
water molecules in grain to minimize
challenges from increased water activities.
• Grain degrades 10 Times faster in a hot
environment
2 main causes of
Moisture Movement
• Moisture Migration
• Grain Respiration
Moisture Migration
Moisture Migration
1. The difference between Day/Night temperature
can cause moisture inside grain to migrate out
resulting in the movement and localized
concentration of free water pockets.
1. A difference of 5 deg Celsius will cause moisture
to migrate.
Delst Inc.
Pericarp
Testa
Endosperm
Germ
Coole
r S
urf
ace
Moisture Migration due to Temperature Differential
Condition of 7 year old steel silo due to sweating
Sweating in a
just painted Steel Silo
Grain Respiration
Factors Affecting Respiration:
1. Moisture
2. Temperature
3. Aeration
4. History of the grain
Respiration, which involves release of energy through the
biochemical oxidation of carbohydrates and other organic
nutrients is common to all living organisms.
Delst Inc.
Deliquescent in DMX-7binds free water molecules
to inhibit moisture migration.
DMX-7
DMX-7
DMX-7
DMX-7
DMX-7
DMX-7
DMX-7
Coole
r S
urf
ace
DMX-7 treated corn in steel silo after
8 months of storage in Thailand.
Corn degrades in quality 10 times faster in a hot environment
+ DMX-71.0 kg/Ton
3 Months
8 Months
Thailand
Very good quality
corn.
Free flowing corn gluten meal even after ~ 45 days of shipping fromUSA
All caked up corngluten mealafter ~ 45 daysof shipping fromUSA
Possible to maintain Grain Quality if we
know how to approach it
• No sweating at side wall
• No spontaneous heating with grain at bottom of silo
after
• Insects will be minimal and well under control
• Much lesser shrink (generally 70-80% lesser than
normal)
• Maintain intake quality right up to the very end at
bottom of silo
DMX-7 (8 months)
Overall Grain Quality
It is important to prevent and control
damages incurred in grain storage. This will
not only save the industry a tremendous
amount in losses from grain damages, as
preventing live mold contamination also has
a huge impact on feed quality and animal
growth performance.