https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2653-0408
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ABSTRACT
China has a large population and is also a big agricultural country. Food security is an important strategic issue related to China’s national economy and people’s livelihood. Corn is one of the main food crops in China, its yield and quality are closely related to China’s growing grain demand. Improper field harvest, failure to dry out in time, and qualitative changes during the storage process will lead to yield loss. In this study, the issue of timely corn harvest, the growth curve, and the antioxidant enzyme activity of corn kernels were measured throughout the harvest process. The mathematical models of the change of moisture content, dry weight, and antioxidant enzyme activity were established, and the optimal harvest period was determined. The results showed that the moisture content of corn kernels decreased with the increase in harvest time. With the increase in harvest period, the dry weight of corn kernels accumulated in the early stage, when the dry weight of corn kernels entered the ripening period on October 3rd, the accumulation of dry weight tended to be a maximum and no longer increased. After that, there was even a decrease in dry weight which was called hidden loss, the trend of four varieties dry weight was different. The antioxidant enzyme activities of POD (peroxidase), CAT (catalase), and SOD (superoxide) of corn kernels were tended to rise first and then decline, there were significant differences between different varieties. The optimal harvest period for each corn variety was determined according to the change of moisture content, dry matter weight, and antioxidant enzyme activity.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).