Carbon Dioxide Evolution from Fresh and Preserved Soybeans

Carbon dioxide evolution has proven to be a good indicator of deterioration in studies of stored cereal grains and oilseeds. Since little work has been done with stored soybeans, a study was conducted measuring carbon dioxide from stored soybeans using freshly harvested and preserved soybean samples. The objective of the study was to determine the effects of harvesting method, storage temperature, storage moisture content, and storage time on soybean deterioration. Following storage treatment, samples were held under aeration in a respirometer at 26°C and 21% moisture, and evolved carbon dioxide mass was measured until samples had lost 1.0% of original dry matter. At high harvest moistures, combine-harvested soybeans deteriorated faster, but at low harvest moistures, the deterioration rate of hand-harvested soybeans was greater. After 48 weeks of storage, the soybeans harvested at 22% moisture and preserved at -18°C deteriorated in a respirometer like freshly harvested soybeans, but soybeans harvested at 9% deteriorated in a respirometer significantly faster than those freshly harvested at 13% moisture