SOYBEAN STORAGE IN BAG TYPE SILOS

This study reports major qualitative changes in the soybean grains and the extracted crude oil when stored in bag type silos. Grains with moisture content of 17.4 or 13.3% were stored in two bag type silos. Samples were taken 30, 90 and 180 days of storage, to determine moisture content, electric conductivity of the grain leachate, germination percentage, apparent specific grain mass, and free fatty acid content, and peroxide index of the crude oil extracted from these grains. The wet and dry grains remained with moisture contents similar to the original levels during the storage period. There was a tendency for to increase in the electric conductivity and decrease in the germination percentage of moist soybeans, especially after a ninety-day storage. The apparent grain density of moist or dry soybeans did not decrease. As regarding to the qualitative parameters of crude oil, the values remained below the legal limits required for marketing crude soybean oil. From the results it can be concluded that bag type silos represent a viable alternative for soybean storage without quality loss, and also storage in such structures does not lead to qualitative changes in the crude oil obtained from such grains.