Embryo and Endosperm Phytochemicals from Polyembryonic Maize Kernels and Their Relationship with Seed Germination

Abstract

Because of the growing worldwide demand for maize grain, new alternatives have been sought for breeding of this cereal, e.g., development of polyembryonic varieties, which agronomic performance could positively impact the grain yield per unit area, and nutritional quality. The objectives of this study were to (1) determine the phytochemicals present in the embryo and endosperm of grain from maize families with high, low, and null polyembryony frequency, which were planted at different locations, and (2) state the relationship between these compounds and seed germination. The extracted phytochemicals from corn were identified by HPLC-MS. The results showed that the genotype with the highest presence of phytochemicals was the brachytic population with high polyembryony called "BAP", which also required less water during the germination process. The number of phytochemicals in both embryo and endosperm tissues was not related to the sowing location where they came from or the type of polyembryony. The number of different phytochemicals depended on the grain tissue from where they were extracted. The chemical compounds found in the different maize tissues were related to the development of the plant, either in roots or nibs because these are mainly associated with the lignin synthesis.

Effects of growth conditions on the physicochemical, mineral, and amino acid profile of polyembryonic maize

“…On the other hand, as variations in the results obtained for mineral content may depend on both the type of maize and its processing, it is important to note that these minerals are present in the soil at low concentrations (Michel et al, 2020). Furthermore, the availability of these compounds can be affected by environmental factors such as climate and soil physicochemical properties (Garcia-Ortiz, González-Centeno, et al, 2022;Ortiz-Rojas & Chaves-Bedoya, 2017). PCA, the coefficients of CP1 indicated higher values in the variables Fe (0.3226), Si (0.3181), and Ca (0.2882), while in CP2, they were Br (0.4862), Nb (0.4040), and Cl (0.2853).…”

“…Worldwide, maize ( Zea mays L.) is one of the most important cereals due to its high consumption and production per year, with a production of more than 1147 million tons per year; this is because its physicochemical properties are important for human nutrition, so different techniques have been used to continuously improve its nutritional quality (Garcia‐Ortiz, González‐Centeno, et al, 2022; Scott & Emery, 2015). One of the methods to improve nutritional quality is through alterations of agronomic management using fertilizers with high proportions of nitrogen and sulfur (Liu et al, 2021) as well as crossbreeding with varieties with high protein concentrations; one of these types of grains with high protein concentrations is polyembryonic (PEm) maize (Alcalá‐Rico et al, 2019).…”