ANALISIS KADAR AFLATOKSIN JAGUNG LOKAL TIMOR PADA PERLAKUAN LAMA PENGERINGAN MENGGUNAKAN UDARA ALAMIAH

Abstract

Corn is a source of carbohydrate commodity which has problems during storage. The problem that is often found is high aflatoxin contamination attacked by microorganisms and fungi. Corn has a high water content after being harvested. Aflatoxin contamination is generally caused by the high water content in corn due to the post-harvest handling process that is not fast enough after the corn is harvested. Drying is a process of diffusing water from the material into the atmosphere to reach the standard water content of storage. The weakness of this drying method is the occurrence of temperature fluctuations due to erratic weather. This condition can cause aflatoxin contamination in corn. This study aims to determine the levels of maize aflatoxin from the variable drying time using natural air. The research method includes drying testing in the field and continued with analysis of changes in water content, analysis of levels of aflalatoxin in the laboratory. Based on the results of the study, it was noted that with an initial moisture content of 25.93% bb, an average ambient temperature of 36.77°C, an average humidity of 76.86% was able to reduce levels to a final moisture content of 15.12% bb. The results of the aflatoxin analysis of the drying time variable used did not occur aflatoxin contamination.

Keywords

• aflatoxins
• corn
• natural air drying