Dimensional characterization of seeds of two white maize single hybrids from Venezuela

Abstract

During the conditioning of maize seeds, the sorting process enables the production of a commercial product that complies with legal size regulations and is sufficiently homogeneous for use in mechanized sowing equipment. Knowledge of the length, width, and thickness dimensions of the seeds to be processed is essential for sorting optimization. To characterize the dimensional variation of white maize hybrids Danac-493 and Danac-829, samples were classified using a combination of 10 sieves of various shapes and sizes, and the weight percentage of the resulting fractions was determined. In each fraction, the length, width, and thickness of 30 randomly selected seeds were measured. Both hybrids exhibited a higher weight proportion of round seeds, which were primarily retained in sieves 20 to 22; fine-type seeds were mainly retained in sieves 20 to 24. For both hybrids, seed length and width showed significant differences among the sieves used, for both coarse and fine types; thickness did not show significant differences in Danac-829. These results provide a reference framework for improving the uniformity of maize seed as a commercial product through the optimization of the classification process.