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.

Thank You

Delst Inc.

drnaveen@delstasia.com