Author(s)

Isaac Godfred Antwi^*, Ahmad Addo, Ato Bart-Plange

Department of Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, Ghana.

Water absorption characteristics of maize (Abotem, Abeleehi, and Dorke SR) hybrids grown in Ghana were investigated using models obtained from Fick’s law of diffusion. The maize kernels were soaked in water at four different temperatures of 30ºC, 40ºC, 50ºC and 60ºC to evaluate their water absorption behaviours. The results indicated that temperature and variety were the major factors controlling water absorption patterns. The diffusion coefficients of the hybrids were found to differ in the order of Dorke SR > Abeleehi > Abotem and increased as the soaking temperature increased. The calculated water diffusivities varied from (2.54 - 3.49) × 10^-10 m²/s for Abotem, (2.64 - 3.59) × 10^-10 m²/s for Abeleehi, (3.21 - 4.20) × 10^-10/s for Dorke SR. The Arrhenius- type equation was able to describe the strong effect of temperature on the diffusion coefficient of the hybrids. The activation energy values obtained were7.50 kJ/mol for Abeleehi, 6.27 kJ/mol for Dorke SR and 9.09 kJ/mol for Abotem. Results indicated that temperature and variety were the major factors controlling water absorption patterns.

Maize, Water Absorption, Diffusion Coefficient, Activation Energy

Antwi, I. , Addo, A. and Bart-Plange, A. (2022) The Hydration Kinetics of Selected Ghanaian Maize (Zea mays L.) Hybrids. Open Journal of Applied Sciences, 12, 99-110. doi: 10.4236/ojapps.2022.121008.