POSTHARVEST QUALITY IMPROVEMENT OF SORGHUM (Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench) GRAINS

Abstrak

The objectives of this study were (a) to investigate the effect of postharvest handling (threshing and storage) methods on the quality of sorghum (Sorghum bicolor (L) Moench) grains variety Numbu, in terms of the percentages of damaged grains and seed germination, population growth of S. zeamais, F. proliferatum and F. verticillioides; fumonisin B1 and carbohydrate contents, and the percentage of weight loss during storage. The change of moisture contents of sorghum grains was also recorded. Threshing was conducted using a stick of wood and a paddy thresher. Sorghum grains were packed in hermetic plastic bags. The conditions inside of the bags were  airtight and normal conditions. Each bag with different conditions inside of the bag was introduced with 10 pairs of Sitophilus zeamais (1-14 days old). Sorghum was stored for one, two and three months of storage under warehouse conditions. The results showed, that during storage the moisture contents of sorghum were  lower than that its standard safe moisture content (