Evaluation of Hermetic Storage Bags for the Preservation of Yellow Maize in Poultry Farms in Dormaa Ahenkro, Ghana

SIMPLE SUMMARY: The effectiveness of the ZeroFly(®) Hermetic and Purdue Improved Crop Storage bags to keep insect pest and mycotoxin levels in check in yellow maize was compared to that of standard polypropylene bag storage at three poultry farms in Dormaa Ahenkro, Ghana. This study provides data on insect numbers, insect-damaged kernels, weight loss of maize, mycotoxin (aflatoxin and fumonisin) levels and proximate composition of maize in the three types of storage bags after six months of storage. Data showed that ZeroFly(®) Hermetic and Purdue Improved Crop Storage bags protected yellow maize against insect pests and held aflatoxin and fumonisin levels within recommended thresholds. ABSTRACT: Using low-quality maize, resulting from insect pests and fungal attack, for formulating feed reduces chicken performance. This study evaluated the effectiveness of hermetic storage bags to keep insect pest and mycotoxin levels in check in yellow maize. The study was conducted in storehouses at three poultry farms in Dormaa Ahenkro, Bono Region, Ghana. The experiment was set up in a Randomized Complete Block Design with ZeroFly® Hermetic (ZFH), Purdue Improved Crop Storage (PICS), and Polypropylene (PP) bags as treatments. In each treatment, twelve 50 kg samples of untreated maize were each put in 100 kg capacity bags. Two bags in each treatment were destructively sampled monthly for 6 months. The number of insects was significantly higher in the PP bag (161.00 ± 4.25), compared to the PICS and ZFH bags: 7.00 ± 0.29 and 4.50 ± 0.76, respectively. The PICS and ZFH bags had less insect damage and lower weight loss than the PP bags. Aflatoxin and fumonisin levels were below the recommended safe thresholds of 15 ppb and 4 ppm, respectively, in all the bags. With the exception of ash, proximate analyses were higher for all variables in the PICS and ZFH bags. The study showed that PICS and ZFH bags conserved maize quality better than the PP bag.