PHYSICAL PROPERTIES AND REHYDRATION CHARACTERISTICS OF DIFFERENT VARIETIES OF MAIZE (ZEA MAYS L.) AND COWPEA (VIGNA UNGUICULATA L. WALP) SEEDS

摘要

Rehydration characteristics of the maize (varieties MASYN VARS, IK93TZLnCOMP.3-YCI,ACR.86TZ ESR-W and IK937ZYTSR-W) and cowpea seeds (varietiesn14C,12C2,19C and 12C1)were investigated at 25, 35 and 45C using Pelegmodel.Thenphysical characteristics of the seeds observed were different among the varietiesnstudied. The Peleg model applied can predict effectively the kinetics of rehydrationnof the seeds with R2 varying between 0.871 and 0.99.The Peleg constant K1 variednbetween 0.5773 and 1.177 min/% for maize seeds and 0.0604 and 0.2417 min/% forncowpea seeds. For the K2, the effect of variety and temperature was observed in thisnwork. The equilibrium moisture content within the experimental range variednbetween 13.03 and 18.66 kg/kg dry basis (d.b.) and 11.86 and 13.77 kg/kg d.b. forncowpea and maize seeds, respectively. Temperature dependence of 1/K1 followed annArrhenius-type relationship, and the activation energy was in the range of 330–n11200 J/mol for maize and 3370–34820 J/mol for cowpea seeds.