CARACTERIZACIÓN FÍSICA, GEOMÉTRICA Y MECÁNICA DE HUITLACOCHE (Ustilago maydis (D.C.) Corda) PHYSICAL, GEOMETRICAL AND MECHANICAL CHARACTERIZATION OF HUITLACOCHE (Ustilago maydis (D.C.) Corda)

Physical, geometrical and mechanical properties of huitlacoche cobs were assessed. The average values of weight, geometric mean diameter, sphe- ricity, the external surface area and volume of huitlacoche were: 259.7 g, 78.4 mm, 65.5 %, 196.03 cm 2 and 266.9 cm 3 , respectively. The color of the peridium is located in the gray scale (L * = 40.4, hue = 86.9, chroma = 5.0). The peridium breaking to the puncture strength was 1.4 N, and the breaking strength of the huitlacoche cob by compression was 377 N with a deformation of 2.9 mm·mm -1 .