Effects of using eolic exhausters as a complement to conventional aeration on the quality of rice stored in metal silos

The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of utilizing an eolic exhauster on reducing the qualitative losses of rice stored in silos. Paddy rice was stored for a nine-month period, in triplicate, in metal silos with a 550-ton capacity that were or were not equipped with an exhauster system and were analyzed every three months. To evaluate the effects of complementary eolic aeration, the energy consumed for aeration and the physical properties of the grain, as well as the thermal and pasting properties of rice, were analyzed. Using the exhauster system in the rice storage silo reduced the loss of dry matter, the energy required for aeration maintenance over a 9-month period, grain hardening, the development of grain staining defects and the darkening of the grain, while preserving the conclusion temperature of gelatinization and the enthalpy, the final viscosity and the head rice yield and not affecting the onset temperature or the peak temperature of gelatinization. Increasing the duration of storage reduced the aeration maintenance requirement, changed the cooking time, the hardness of the grains, the conclusion temperature and the enthalpy, the peak viscosity and final viscosity, the head rice yield, the development of grain staining and the darkening of rice grains, but with less intensity when the rice was stored in silos that used an exhauster system, without affecting the onset and peak temperatures of gelatinization.