Corn isone of the principalfeed raw materials, especially for poultry. Variousliteratures and researches show that in each cornproduction center in Indonesia there is always acase of aflatoxin attack.
A researcherat the Center forAgricultural Postharvest Research and Development, Nur Richana,stated thataflatoxinis the mycotoxinproduced by fungal species, one of which is Aspergillusflavus. The fact that there is still much corn found to contain aflatoxinmore than 50 ppm for feed raw materialhasmade a lot ofrejectionsinthe market, especially by feed manufacturers. "The high aflatoxincontentin cornandits products requires a solution so thatthe storagewill be better," she told TROBOS Livestock.
That’s why she and her team conducted a study ofhermetic storage of corn(impermeable) which has been widely applied abroad but unknown in Indonesia. "This study focuses on the durability of corn so thatitis notattacked by aflatoxin," said the woman who also carried out a study oncassava.
The treatmentperformedin this studywas very simple because initially it just compared storagetreatmentsbyfarmers,who usually usesacks,withhermetic treatmentas well asCO2treatment. HermeticandCO2 treatments showed anencouraging result," she said.
The researchusedCO2treatment using a modelof aplastic water tankby flowing CO2 into the tank so that O2 will go out, after which itis immediately sealed. Usually this storage model can be applied to grains of corn. "But microbes will rapidly grow if the cornis moistwith a high water content, and the presence of O2," said Nur.
Meanwhile,the research usinga hermetic treatmentis,in principle,almost the same. The difference is without the flowing of CO2and it is givenan air-absorbenttool which is a kind of silica gelsothatthestorageis not damp. The research model is applied to seeds and grains of corn. "Usually the corn grains are firstdried--beforethey are taken off the cob--at least for oneweek so thatthe moisture contentwill beless than14 %," she added.
Nursaid thattheresearch resultusing a hermetictreatment showedthat theaflatoxin contentwasless than3 ppb or 0.003 ppm. Based on this result, corncouldremain good for a long time, ranging from 3months to 2 years.
