Open Journal of Applied Sciences, 2022, 12, 99-110 https://www.scirp.org/journal/ojapps ISSN Online: 2165-3925 ISSN Print: 2165-3917 DOI: 10.4236/ojapps.2022.121008 Jan. 24, 2022 99 Open Journal of Applied Sciences The Hydration Kinetics of Selected Ghanaian Maize (Zea mays L.) Hybrids Isaac Godfred Antwi * , Ahmad Addo, Ato Bart-Plange Department of Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, Ghana Abstract Water absorption characteristics of maize (Abotem, Abeleehi, and Dorke SR) hybrids grown in Ghana were investigated using models obtained from Fick’s law of diffusion. The maize kernels were soaked in water at four different temperatures of 30˚C, 40˚C, 50˚C and 60˚C to evaluate their water absorption behaviours. The results indicated that temperature and variety were the major factors controlling water absorption patterns. The diffusion coefficients of the hybrids were found to differ in the order of Dorke SR > Abeleehi > Abotem and increased as the soaking temperature increased. The calculated water diffusivities varied from (2.54 - 3.49) × 10 -10 m 2 /s for Abotem, (2.64 - 3.59) × 10 -10 m 2 /s for Abeleehi, (3.21 - 4.20) × 10 -10 /s for Dorke SR. The Arrhenius- type equation was able to describe the strong effect of temperature on the diffusion coefficient of the hybrids. The activation energy values obtained were7.50 kJ/mol for Abeleehi, 6.27 kJ/mol for Dorke SR and 9.09 kJ/mol for Abotem. Results indicated that temperature and variety were the major fac- tors controlling water absorption patterns. Keywords Maize, Water Absorption, Diffusion Coefficient, Activation Energy 1. Introduction Maize is an essential member of the cereal family and important food crop pro- duced worldwide including savannas of Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). Maize is a major source of protein and energy and can be used as a substitute for major food staples. Many people believe that maize could become the future food for Africans. In SSA, maize contributes 40% to cereal production, where more than 80% is used as food [1]. At least 30% of the calorie intake in SSA is supplied by maize [2]. In Ghana, more than 1 million (20%) of estimated 5 million small How to cite this paper: Antwi, I.G., Addo, A. and Bart-Plange, A. (2022) The Hydra- tion Kinetics of Selected Ghanaian Maize (Zea mays L.) Hybrids. Open Journal of Applied Sciences, 12, 99-110. https://doi.org/10.4236/ojapps.2022.121008 Received: December 26, 2021 Accepted: January 21, 2022 Published: January 24, 2022 Copyright © 2022 by author(s) and Scientific Research Publishing Inc. This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial International License (CC BY-NC 4.0). http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ Open Access