Determinación de la calidad del maíz suministrado por los proveedores de avícola Mayorga

Abstract

Corn is a cereal of great relevance worldwide, its use in the food industry increases every year. Avícola Mayorga uses corn as raw material (10,200 tons annually) in the production of feed for laying birds. This grain can be contaminated by pests such as fungi and insects, causing health problems for laying birds and reducing egg production. Therefore, it is important to verify the quality of corn to guarantee food safety. In the present study, the quality of the corn supplied by the largest suppliers of Avícola Mayorga was evaluated, for which the humidity, impurities, hectoliter weight and aflatoxin content will be determined following the methodologies established in the INEN standards. Additionally, the relationship between moisture content and the presence of aflatoxins was evaluated. Finally, post-harvest instructions were developed to ensure the correct handling and storage of the grain to prevent its contamination. The results obtained observed that the analyzed samples do not present aflatoxins, in addition the corn of sample 2 (M2) from the Santa Elena sector is the one that has the best quality with a humidity of 13.93 percent, impurity content of 0.84 percent, a hectoliter weight of 81.23 kg/hL, while samples 1, 3 and 4 (M1, M3 and M4) from the Mocache, Ventanas and San Rafael sectors respectively, presented humidity higher than 14 percent, percentages of impurities higher than the that indicates the national standard and the density levels are appropriate.