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Starch Content, Test Weight, and Other Quality Parameters of Corn Produced in Different Maturity Areas of Ontario 1
Author(s) -
Hilliard Joe H.,
Daynard T. B.
Publication year - 1974
Publication title -
crop science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.76
H-Index - 147
eISSN - 1435-0653
pISSN - 0011-183X
DOI - 10.2135/cropsci1974.0011183x001400040015x
Subject(s) - test weight , starch , growing season , biology , maturity (psychological) , agronomy , dry weight , zoology , zea mays , food science , cultivar , psychology , developmental psychology
Industrial buyers have traditionally assumed that the quality of grain corn ( Zea mays L.) from shorter growing‐season areas of Ontario is inferior to that of grain produced in longer‐season areas. To test this assumption, we collected grain corn samples in the fall of 1970 and 1971 from 26 country elevators located across the corn‐growing region of the province. We evaluated the samples for test weight, 100‐kernel weight, percent starch, and percent protein. Significant positive correlations were found between test weight and maturity (i.e., number of heat units available for corn production at elevator location) and between 100‐kernel weight and test weight. Correlations of percent starch and percent protein with maturity were not significant. The results indicated that, except for test weight, length of growing season has no consistent effect on the grain quality parameters measured. We would argue that because of the lack of a relationship between test weight and either starch or protein content, lower test weight should not detract from the suitability of shorter‐season corn for most industrial uses.