A Systematical Rheological Study of Maize Kernel.
Foods 2023;
12:foods12040738. [PMID:
36832812 PMCID:
PMC9955850 DOI:
10.3390/foods12040738]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/15/2022] [Revised: 01/31/2023] [Accepted: 02/02/2023] [Indexed: 02/10/2023] Open
Abstract
In this study, the rheological behavior of maize kernel was systematically investigated using a dynamic mechanical analyzer. The loss in toughness caused by drying resulted in a downward shift in the relaxation curve and an upward shift in the creep curve. The long relaxation behavior became obvious when the temperature was above 45 °C, resulting from the weakening of hydrogen bonds with temperature. The maize kernel relaxed more rapidly at high temperatures, caused by a reduction in the cell wall viscosity and polysaccharide tangles. The Deborah numbers were all much smaller than one, suggesting that the Maxwell elements showed viscous behavior. Maize kernel, as a viscoelastic material, showed a dominant viscous property at high temperatures. The decline in β with increasing drying temperature indicated an increase in the width of the relaxation spectrum. A Hookean spring elastic portion made up the majority of the maize kernel creep strain. The order-disorder transformation zone of maize kernel was about 50-60 °C. Due to the complexity of maize kernel, the William-Landel-Ferry constants differed from the universal values; these constants should be ascertained through experiments. Time-temperature superposition was successfully used to describe the rheological behavior. The results show that maize kernel is a thermorheologically simple material. The data acquired in this study can be used for maize processing and storage.
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