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Updated: Oct 5, 2025

High-throughput, Microscale Protocol for the Analysis of Processing Parameters and Nutritional Qualities in Maize Zea mays L.
Published on: June 16, 2018
Effect of moisture, protein, starch, soluble sugar contents and microstructure on mechanical properties of maize
Mengmeng Qiao1, Guoyi Xia1, Tao Cui1
1College of Engineering, China Agricultural University, NO. 17 Qinghua East Road, Beijing 100083, PR China.
Abstract:
The relationships between components contents and mechanical properties of maize kernels were studied. The relationships were analyzed by gray relation analysis (GRA), correlation analysis (CA), and multiple linear regression (MLR). Furthermore, Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) was utilized for interpreting mechanical properties. The results of GRA and CA indicated that soluble sugar content was not an important factor that can affect mechanical properties compared with the moisture, starch and protein contents. The results of MLR indicated that the regression models can be used to access the hardness, rupture force and apparent elastic modulus (R greater than 0.75), but cannot be used to access rupture energy and viscoelastic parameters. The microstructure observation illustrated that high protein content could increase hardness, rupture force, rupture energy, and elastic properties, while high starch content could increase viscous properties. This study can provide technical references for transportation, processing and harvest processes.
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