Determination of Moisture in Corn Kernels by

Near-Infrared Transmittance Measurements

Essex E. Finney, Jr., Karl H. Norris
MEMBER FELLOW
ASAE ASAE

centage moisture within the product and the intensity

ABSTRACT of its water absorption bands (Curcio and Petty, 1951)
EAR-infrared transmittance (T) of individual at 760, 970, 1190, 1450, and 1940 nm. Data are avail-
N kernels of corn was measured over the spectral able on the relationship between moisture content and
region from 700 to 1100 nm. AOD(950-920)nm and the near-infrared absorption properties of ground grain
dT/T at 936 nm were linearly correlated with percent samples (Ben-Gera and Norris, 1968; Norris and Hart,
moisture in the kernel. Standard errors were about 1965; Williams, 1975); and recently, correlations of
2 percent for corn with moisture ranging from 8 to 35 moisture content with the infrared reflectance of whole-
percent. kernel corn have been reported (Stermer et al., 1977).
Paez et al. (1968) found no relationship between
INTRODUCTION moisture content of corn and the light they trans-
mitted through individual kernels in the visible region
With the wide acceptance of mechanical harvesting,
between 450 and 560 nm. No information has been
corn often is harvested with a high moisture content
reported, however, on spectral transmittance of corn
so that field losses due to natural shattering and adverse
weather would be reduced. Moisture content of corn is kernels in the near-infrared region.
of direct economic importance during marketing. Dry We undertook to explore the possibility of using near-
matter per unit weight is inversely related to the per- infrared transmittance measurements for determining
cent moisture in the grain; and the greater the amount the moisture content of intact corn kernels. Such
of dry substance per bushel, the greater is the yield of measurements might be useful not only for estimating
milled or refined corn products. Also, moisture con- the average percent moisture in a sample, but also for
tent affects keeping quality. High levels of moisture detecting mixtures of wet and dry corn. The distri-
produce optimum conditions for the growth of molds, bution of the moisture content of individual kernels in
which may be toxic, and for heating and spoilage a sample, for example, may indicate the average
during storage. These actions can lead to loss of nutri- moisture content of a single population (normal distri-
tive value and, ultimately, to rotting or total loss of bution); or it may indicate that the sample was taken
value. Rapid, accurate methods for determining the from a mixture of high and low moisture corn (bimodal
moisture content of corn, therefore, are of consider- distribution).
able practical importance.
Methods are available for determining the moisture MATERIALS AND METHODS
content of corn and other grains. The basic method, Corn used in this study was yellow dent hybrid
against which most others are compared, involves drying Pioneer 3334A from the 1976 crop grown at Beltsville,
a known weight of grain in an oven and calculating MD. It was harvested by hand when the moisture con-
moisture content from the weight loss (Anon., 1976; tent was about 35 percent, wet basis, and hand shelled.
Zeleny, 1954). Oven-drying methods are time con- To obtain a wide moisture range, some of the corn was
suming. Hence, instruments have been developed to held at room conditions, some was placed in a refrig-
rapidly test grain for percent moisture. Such instru- erator in plastic bags, and some was allowed to dry on
ments are quite useful, but accuracy across a wide top of an oven for short time intervals.
moisture range is a problem, especially when the Four samples were measured in the study. Each
moisture content exceeds 25 percent (Albert, 1975; kernel was weighed individually to the nearest 0.5 mg
Fetzer, 1954; Stermer et al., 1977), for moisture determination, and its spectral transmit-
Near-infrared spectrophotometry hai been used tance was immediately recorded. The kernel was then
successfully in studies to determine the water content of placed in a numbered position on a tray, dried in a
a wide variety of materials, including liquid extracts of gravity-convection oven at 103 ± 1 °C for 72 h (ASAE,
seeds and grains (Campbell and Martin, 1976; Hart 1976), and reweighed. Moisture content was calcu-
et al., 1962), thin layers of ground grain (Ben-Gera lated as percent, wet basis (w.b.). The mean, standard
and Norris, 1968; Norris, 1964), and intact peanuts deviation, and range of moisture of the four samples
and lima beans (Norris and Hart, 1965). The studies are given in Table 1.
showed significant correlations between the per- Transmittance, T, (Gibson, 1949; Norris, 1965)
spectra were recorded with a special computerized
spectrophotometer with a Cary Model 14 mono-
Article was submitted for publication in July 1977; reviewed and chromator operated in a single beam mode (Norris
approved for publication by the Electric Power and Processing Division et al., 1976). The corn kernel was positioned in a spring-
of ASAE in December 1977. Presented as ASAE Paper No. 77-3021. loaded metal sample holder (Fig. 1) which had 9.5- x
The authors are: ESSEX E. FINNEY, JR., Agricultural Engineer,
and KARL K. NORRIS, Instrumentation Research Laboratory, 3.2-mm (top) and 11- x 5-mm (bottom) openings aligned
USDA-SEA, Beltsville, MD. to allow the incident beam of radiation to pass through

1978—TRANSACTIONS of the ASAE 581