Authors:
Bartosik, R., Ochandio, D., Cardoso, L., de la Torre, D.
National Institute of Agricultural Technologies, Rute 226 km 73.5, Balcarce, (7620)Argentina
Abstract: The storage of dry malting barley (12%) in silo-bags is a well adopted practice inArgentina, with no deleterious effects on the malting process. However, sometimesfarmers have to store barley at moisture contents higher than 12%, implying a higher riskfor the malting quality and, eventually, a monetary loss for farmers (barley has to betraded as feed). In that sense, it would be convenient to have a monitoring tool that wouldallow for testing the storage condition of the barley in the silo-bag and making a quickrisk assessment. The objective of this study was to quantify the effect of storage moisturecontent on the germination ofbarley and to determine its correlation with the CO2concentration, as an indicator of storage risk. The tests were carried out in two silo-bagsfilled with barley at moisture content ranging between 13 and 18%. Grain samples werecollected, at the beginning of storage and every 15 days during five months of storage andsubmitted to the lab for performing the germination test. Carbon dioxide and graintemperature were measured in the silo-bag with the same frequency. For the temperaturevalues registered insummer time in Argentina, it is not safe to store malting barley withmoisture over 14%. With moisture content lower than 14%, barley can be stored in silo-bags for 5 months without affecting the germination. Carbon dioxide measurement is aneffective indicator for detecting grain spoilage risk caused by excessive moisture contentor for detecting potential problems derived from water infiltration in the bag duringstorage. However, the evolution of CO2 should be used as a spoilage indicator duringstoragerather than a single reading at a particular moment.
