Corn stalks

A three-layer board having a corncob core and wood veneer face was produced for a short time in Czechoslovakia after World War II [9]. Corn stalks, like many agricultural fibre sources, consist of a pithy core with an outer layer of long fibres. Corn stalks and cobs are either hammer milled into particles or reduced to fibres in a pressurised refiner. 

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Afek U, Menge JA, Johnson ELV (1991) Interaction among mycorrhizae, soil solarization, meta-laxyl, and plants in the field. Plant Dis 75 665-672 Ahmad Y, Hameed A, Aslam M (1996) Effect of soil solarization on corn stalk rot. Plant Soil 179 17-24. doi 10.1007/BF00011638... 

J.P. recalled running through the of tall rows of corn stalks... 

Xylan occurs in practically all land plants and is said to be present in some marine algae.6 In both wide botanical distribution and abundance in nature it closely follows cellulose and starch. It is most abundant in annual crops, particularly in agricultural residues such as corn cobs, corn stalks, grain hulls and stems. Here it occurs in amounts ranging from 15 to 30%. Hard woods contain 20 to 25% xylan while soft woods contain 7 to 12 %. Spring wood has more pentosan than summer wood. 7 Low strength vegetable fibers of commerce such as jute, sisal, Manila... 

Symptoms Young larvae feed on corn leaves and tassels and beneath husks, damaging the ears. Older larvae burrow in corn stalks and ears damaged stalks may break. Larvae also tunnel in the stems or pods of beans, onions, peppers, potatoes, tomatoes, and other crops. 

Use of HemiceUuloses and CeUulose and Degradation of Lignin by Pleurotus sajor—caju Grown on Corn Stalks... 

Pleurotus sajor-caju was selected in the present study for the utilization of polysaccharides from corn stalks for production of protein-rich mycelial biomass in submerged fermentation rather than for production of mushrooms (fruiting bodies). Production of mycelial biomass of various mushrooms including morels in submerged cultural conditions is another way to use them as food, food additives or mushroom flavor agents (8,9). 

Substrate and Pretreatment. Sweet corn (hybrid Lingodor) of W.H. Perron Laval, Quebec was grown in well prepared soil in a plot of 3 x 2 meters. Corn stalks were ground to 20 mesh to be used as a substrate. It was pretreated with 1.5% sodium hydroxide (NaOH) wt/vol with substraterwater ratio of 1 10 at 121 C for 60 minutes. The substrate was not washed after the pretreatment, and all the solubilized polymers (hemicelluloses and lignin) were retained along with the insoluble polymer (cellulose) in the fermentation medium. The composition of corn stalk is presented in Table 1. 

Lignin was estimated by dissolving the corn stalks in 72% H2SO4. 

Analysis of Lignin of Corn Stalks Before Fermentation. During the pretreatment of corn stalks with NaOH, the lignin and hemicelluloses were solubilized. The solubles obtained after filtering through... 

Table 2. Utilization of hemicelluloses and cellulose from corn stalks by Pleurotus sajor-caju...

Table 4. Distribution of molecular weight (MW) of various oligoli-gnols produced during fermentation of corn stalks lignin...

Figure 1.82 Cross-section of corn stalk exhibiting functionally graded strnctnre. From Shigeyasu Amada, Hierarchical fnnctionally gradient structures of bamboo, barley, and com, MRS Bulletin, Vol. XX(1), 35 (1995). Reprodnced by permission of MRS Bulletin.

AN (alone or contg a small amt of dendritic inotg nitrates), 1.5% mineral oil, 1.0% dia-tomaceous earth 16.0% bagasse (or other low-d fuel such as shredded corn stalks or shredded synthetic plastics). This mixt... 

The Purdue concepts have been applied to several different agricultural products, such as corn stalks, alfalfa, orchard grass, tall fescue, and sugarcane bagasse. No experiments have been reported on either hardwoods or softwoods. The processes have been explored in two major modes. In the first, the entire agricultural residue is treated with solvent in the second, a dilute acid pretreatment to remove hemicellulose precedes solvent treatment. The first process is especially desirable for making furfural or fermentation products from hemicellulose as a separate activity. Then, the hemicellulose-free raw material can be converted to substantially pure glucose. 

Triazine herbicides such as atrazine and cyanazine are not tightly adsorbed to surface crop residue, allowing rainfall to wash intercepted herbicide into the soil. Low vapor pressures also avoid excessive vapor losses of residue-intercepted triazine herbicides. When atrazine was applied to corn-stalk residue, 52% of the herbicide washed off the stalk residue by the first 0.5 cm of simulated rainfall (Martin et al., 1978). After 3.5 cm of rain, 89% of the intercepted atrazine had washed off the residue. Similarly, in another study (Baker and Shiers, 1989), 75% of applied cyanazine washed off com-stalk residue with 0.7 cm of simulated rain, and an additional 11% was recovered from the residue. 

Farm Progress Companies. Farm Progress What Are Corn Stalks Worth , Farm Progress Companies, Website www.farmprogress.com/frmp/articleDetail/1,1494,11451+ 19,00.html. 

Creighton RHJ, Hibbert H (1944) Studies on lignin and related compounds LXXVI Alkaline nitrobenzene oxidation of corn stalks Isolation of p hydroxybenzaldehyde J Am Chem Soc 66 37-38... 

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