Fumigation and Control Atmosphere 605 PS6-14 – 6331 Evaluation of oil extracted from corn grains ozonized at different levels of grain mass temperature A. de M. Pereira 1 , L.R. D’A. Faroni 1 , A.H. de Sousa 2* , J.L.P. Marco 1 , M.T.C. da Silva 3 1 Department of Agricultural Engineering, Federal University of Viçosa (UFV), Viçosa - MG, 36570-000, Brazil. 2 Department of Animal Biology, Federal University of Viçosa (UFV), Viçosa - MG, 36570-000, Brazil. 3 Department of Food Technology, Federal University of Viçosa (UFV), Viçosa - MG, 36570-000, Brazil. * Corresponding author. Department of Animal Biology, Universidade Federal de Viçosa, Viçosa, MG, 36570-000, Brazil. Phone: +55-31-3899-1919; Fax: +55-31-3899-2537. E-mail address: adalberto@insecta.ufv.br (AH Sousa). Abstract Pest management in grain storage units must be based on control measures, which should be efficient, low cost and with the least possible environmental impact. Considering ozone gas as a new strategy of modified atmosphere for grain protection against insect-pest attack, this work was carried out to evaluate its immediate and latent effect on the quality of oil extracted from grains during storage. Corn grains were subjected to atmosphere modified with 50 ppm ozone, 8 L min-1 flow, for 168 hours, at grain mass temperatures of 20, 30, 35 and 40 °C. Atmospheric air was applied for 168 hours to the grain mass under the same conditions of the ozone gas treatment, as control. After exposition to ozone and atmospheric air at each temperature, the grains were individually homogenized and placed into 2.5-L glass bottles, which were stored in room conditions for 180 days. To evaluate the effect of the treatments on grain quality, acidity and peroxide values of the extracted oil were determined after the treatment and every 45 days. The peroxide and acidity values were not affected by ozone after treatment at any temperature. Therefore, ozonization did not induce immediate and latent alterations in peroxide and acidity values in fumigated grains at the studied grain mass temperature levels. Key words: grain protection, storage, ozonization, acidity value, peroxide value. Introduction Protection and conservation of grains during storage constitute in a socioeconomic need. All the resources destined for feed-use should be carefully conserved during storage in order to maintain the nutritional value. The grain type and the treatment it was subjected during management and processing will define the correct procedures to be adopted for storage (Parizzi, 2005). In the last years, the demand for alternatives to reduce the use of chemical products to control biological agents such as insects and fungi has been increasing. Among the main alternatives, the use of ozone gas (O 3 ) stands out as it can be produced at the workplace, eliminates tasks such as chemical handling, storage and disposal of containers, and mainly, it does not leave toxic residues in the grains, since the only product of degradation is oxygen (O 2 ) (Barbosa et al., 2005). Although some authors have reported the efficiency of ozone to control stored grains insect-pests (Kells et al., 2001; Mendez et al., 2003; Zhanggui et al., 2003), little it is known about its influence on grain and byproduct quality during storage. Increasing knowledge on factors