We studied the quality of maize in conventional storage and controlled atmosphere storage with N2 and compared the quality difference of maize under the two storage conditions.The test shows that,at low temperature,the quality of maize in controlled atmosphere storage with N2 is similar to that in conventional storage.After storage at 20 ℃ for half a year,the germination rate of maize decreased from 96% to 87% and 85%,respectively,the fatty acid value increased from 22.4 mg/100 g to 45.9 mg /100 g and 47.4 mg /100 g respectively.However,after storage at 35 ℃ for half a year,the germination rate decreased to 42% and 8% respectively;the fatty acid value increased to 49.5 mg/100g and 57.6 mg/100 g respectively;and the catalase activity decreased to 30.4 mg/g and 20.3 mg/g respectively.Controlled atmosphere storage with N2 is better than conventional storage,particularly in delaying the decrease of the germination rate of maize and the catalase activity as well as the increase of the fatty acid value.Accordingly,we suggests that low-temperature storage is the preferred selection for maize storage in grain depot,and that controlled atmosphere storage with N2 can be selected to suppress the effects of high temperature on the maize quality when the low-temperature storage cannot be achieved.