Influence of broken kernels content on soybean quality during storage

Although it is recognized that the post-harvest system is most responsible for the loss of soybean quality, the real impact of this loss is still unknown. Brazilian regulation allows 15% and 30% of broken soybean for group I and group II (quality groups), respectively. However, the industry is not informed about the loss in the quality parameters of soybeans and its impacts during long-term storage. Therefore, the objective was to evaluate the effect of the breakage kernel percentage of soybean stored for 12 months. Content of 15% of breakage kernels did not affect soybean quality. However, content of 30% of breakage kernels affected significantly soybean quality, which was evidenced by the increase of up to 75% in moldy soybeans, 72% in acidity, 50% in leached solids, 27% in electrical conductivity, and the decrease of up to 12% in soluble protein, 6.4% in germination and 3.5% in thousand kernel weight after 8 months of storage. Although the legislation establishes a percentage limit, it is recommended to store soybeans with up to 15% breakage kernels. On the contrary, values higher than that can cause a significant reduction in soybean quality, resulting in commercial losses.