Improved nutritive and technological maize grain value is very important for its use in diets. In this work, the chemical composition and potential beneficial components, including total and soluble proteins, tryptophan, starch, sugars (sucrose and reducing sugars), and fibres were investigated in flour of eight specialty maize hybrids from Maize Research Institute Zemun Polje (ZP): two sweet, popping, red, white, waxy, yellow semiflint and yellow dent maize hybrids. In addition, digestibility of grain dry matter and viscosity of maize flour were determined. The highest nutritive value was recorded in sweet maize hybrids ZP 504su and ZP 531su which had the highest content of total protein, albumin, tryptophan, sugars and dietary fibres. Besides, low content of starch (55.32% and 54.59%, respectively) and lignin (0.39% and 0.45%) affected the highest dry matter digestibility (92.69% and 91.07%) of sweet maize flour. However, functional properties of ZP sweet hybrids were not satisfactory for food and industrial applications. In contrast, flour of ZP waxy maize hybrid was characterised by a clear and a high peak viscosity. All hybrids could be classified according to the sucrose content in three groups: a) > 4% (sweet and red hybrids-ZP 504su, ZP Rumenka), b) from 3 to 4% (waxy, standard dent and semi flint hybrids-ZP 704wx, ZP 434, ZP 633) and c) from 2 to 3% (sweet, white and popping maize hybrids-ZP 531su, ZP 74b, ZP 611k).α-Zein was the dominant protein fraction in all genotypes except the sweet maize hybrids, making 22.45% to 29.25% of the total protein content.

A hybrid ZP 434 was selected as the most promising bioethanol producer. This property is attributed to the highest level of soft endosperm which is more susceptible to starch-hydrolysing enzymes. A high yield potential per hectare makes it the best candidate for commercial bioethanol production.

IzvodKukuruz (Zea mays L.) je jedna od najznačajnijih ratarskih biljaka koja se svrstava u veoma važne obnovljive ugljenohidratne sirovone za proizvodnju energije i mnogobrojnih proizvoda različite namene. Bioetanol je biogorivo koje se najviše koristi kao zamena za fosilna goriva. Trend proizvodnje ovog goriva je rastući, a kukuruz zahvaljujući visokom sadržaju skroba u zrnu, predstavlja jednu od najboljih obnovljivih sirovina za njegovu proizvodnju. Suva kukuruzna džibra je najznačajniji sporedni proizvod dobijanja bioetanola iz kukuruza. Zahvaljujući visokoj hranljivoj vrednosti, sadržaju proteina i drugih hranljivih materija, predstavlja kvalitetno hranivo koje može naći primenu kao komponenta u smešama za ishranu životinja.U cilju ispitivanja uticaja hibrida kukuruza na kvalitet zrna, fermentaciona svojstva, prinos bioetanola i kvalitet suve kukuruzne džibre korišćeno je zrno pet hibrida kukuruza stvorenih u Institutu za kukuruz "Zemun Polje". Najnižu koncentraciju bioetanola u fermentacionom medijumu nakon 44h alkoholnog vrenja (8,64 % w/w) ostvario je hibrid ZP 560 a najvišu ZP 600 (9,10 % w/w). U odnosu na maksimalni teorijski prinos najviši je imao hibrid ZP 606 (93,59%), a najniži ZP 505 (87,33%). Najveća in vitro svarljivost suve materije kukuruzne džibre određena je u uzorku dobijenom od hibrida ZP 505 (82,41%), a najniža (77,12%) u uzorku džibre hibrida ZP 606. Hemijski sastav i fi zičke karakteristike zrna, kao i drugi parametri procesa proizvodnje uticali su na prinos bioetanola.Ključne reči: hibridi kukuruza, bioetanol, suva kukuruzna džibra.Originalan naučni rad (Original scientifi c paper) 1 Semenčenko V., Radosavljević M., Terzić D., Milašinović-Šeremešić M., Mladenović Drinić S., Institut za kukuruz Zemun Polje, S. Bajića 1, 11185 Beograd 2 Mojović Lj., Univerzitet u Beogradu, Tehnološko-metalurški fakultet,

Maize is one of the most important field crops both in the world and in our country. All commercially grown maize hybrids can be classified into one of five elementary types: dent, flint, floury, popping and sweet maize. The objectives of this study were to characterize the grain chemical compositions of yellow-seeded and white-seeded maize dents, popping maize and sweet maize genotypes. The results show that grains contents of starch, protein, oil, crude fibre, and ash of four selected maize genotypes ranged in the intervals: 53.54-68.13%; 9.19-13.00%; 4.35-5.39%; 2.13-3.93% and 1.28-2.85%, respectively. The amylose to amylopectin ratio varied from 21:79 to 28:72, which is a principal property of normal maize starch. The content of lignocellulosic fibres: NDF, ADF, ADL, hemicellulose and cellulose ranged from 11.31-15.27%; 2.51-3.54%, 0.24-0.52%, 8.10-12.68% and 2.14-3.02%, respectively. The solubility index of albumin, globulin, zein and glutelin ranged from 9.46-29.42%, 5.64-13.13%, 21.11-28.10% and 18.81-23.69%, respectively

This paper presents the results of a study on the yields of green matter, dry matter and digestible dry matter of the whole plant of four ZP silage maize hybrids (gown in four different locations in the Republic of Serbia) and the quality of their whole-plant biomass. The results obtained indicate that the highest average yields of green matter (40.4 t•ha -1 ), dry matter (14.4 t•ha -1 ) and digestible dry matter of the whole plant (8.8 t•ha -1 ) were recorded in the ZP 707 hybrid at all four locations considered. The highest average content of lignocellulosic fibres was detected in the ZP 735 hybrid, which also exhibited the lowest dry matter digestibility of the whole plant (57.24%). The highest average digestibility of dry matter (61.00%) and NDF (NDFD -Neutral Detergent Fibres Digestibility) (26.20%) of the whole maize plant was determined in the ZP 707 hybrid, which also had the lowest average content of all lignocellulosic fibres.

In rain-fed cropping, defining the best combination of practices could achieve high forage yield and silage quality. The aim of this study was to compare energetic quality of produced silage with productive characteristics of forage maize cultivated on alluvium and hydromorphous black soil in rain-fed conditions at four plant densities (68-74,000 plants ha-1) during the period 2005- 2010. Yield and energy parameters were increased to some extent at higher crop densities indicating that higher densities (74,000 plants ha-1) were potentially better for high forage and DM yields, while lower densities (70,000 plants ha-1) were better for the increase of energy parameters of produced silage. [Projekat Ministarstva nauke Republike Srbije, br. TR-31037]

Since its establishment the Maize Research Institute, Zemun Polje has been having an extremely important role in the improvement of maize production and utilisation. The aim of this manuscript is to present results of studies on chemical composition, physical and technological grain traits, i.e. utilisable value of the most widely grown ZP maize hybrids. Previous achievements and prospects of the development of chemistry and processing technology of maize grain as a highly valuable renewable raw material for industrial processing, different technical purposes and the food and feed production are presented. Results gained in many decades of studies show that maize hybrids developed at the Maize Research Institute, Zemun Polje are the unique initial material for the production of starch, bioethanol and highly-valuable food and feed, as well as a reliable signpost for researchers performing maize breeding and selection in order to direct future studies within this field.

Maize (Zea mays L.) is one of the most important cereal crops, and as such, one of the most significant naturally renewable carbohydrate raw materials for the production of energy and multitude of different products. Many studies have shown that the kernel composition and starch structure of maize are highly influenced by genetic background of the maize. Maize grain consists of approximately 70% of starch, which makes it a very suitable feedstock for the bioethanol production. This study was conducted with aim to understand how different genetic background affects bioethanol yield and other fermentation properties of the selected maize genotypes in the process of maize grain- based bioethanol production. Twenty seven maize hybrids, including genotypes of standard chemical composition as well as specialty maize hybrids such as popping, waxy, white kernel and red kernel hybrids, developed at the Maize Research Institute, Zemun Polje, were investigated in this study. The lowest bioethanol yield of 7.25% w/w obtained for hybrid ZP 611k after 48 h of fermentation and the highest by genotype ZP 434 (8.96% w/w). A very significant positive correlation was determined between kernel starch content and the bioethanol yield after 48h of fermentation, as well as volumetric productivity (48h) (r=0.67). Between bioethanol yield after 48h of fermentation and soft endosperm content in kernel of the investigated ZP maize hybrids a very significant positive correlation was assessed (r=0.66). Higher overall bioethanol yields have been obtained from genotypes containing higher starch and lower protein and lipid contents.