The influence of environment on certain constituents of quality and food value of hybrid sweet corn and field corn

Abstract

A study was made to determine (1) the influence of plant spacing and nitrogen fertilizer on the yield, percentage of soluble solids, the toughness of the pericarp, and protein content of embryos and kernels of hybrid sweet corn, and (2) the influence of locally on the protein content of field corn varieties.

The highest yield and weight of ears of sweet corn are obtained with plants spaced 6 inches apart. Of the three varieties, the medium-late maturing Seneca Chief is more desirable from the standpoint of higher yields and weight of ears. Northern Cross had the lowest number of total ears when grown 9 inches apart, and the other two varieties with 12 inches between plants in the row.

Differences in earliness, yield, the weight of ears, and the number of ears per plot are found among the varieties studied.

The number of shoots or tillers of Seneca Chief is higher than that of Northern Cross or Seneca Arrow; with increases in spacing the number of shoots per plant increases.

The early maturing variety Northern Cross was less desirable in that the kernels at harvest contained a lower percentage of soluble solids, had the toughest pericarp; however, it contained a higher average percentage of total protein (15.31) than either Seneca Arrow (14.50) and Seneca Chief (13.56). Northern Cross also contained a higher average percentage of total protein in the embryos (17.00) than either Seneca Chief (16.44) and Seneca Arrow (14.87). The embryo protein, considered to be more digestible than the protein of the endosperm was not influenced by spacing treatments.

Under the conditions of this experiment, there was no association between the amount of nitrogen fertilizer and the percentage of soluble solids, toughness of the pericarp, protein content, and yield of sweet corn. The supply of nitrogen seemed adequate since the corn crop followed a crop of soybeans.

Considering the entire experiment, regardless of variety, spacing, and fertilizer levels, the increase in yield decreased the food value of sweet corn in terms of the protein content of the kernels but did not influence the protein content of the embryos this cannot be considered conclusive because of the limited experimental period and small number of hybrid studied.

lt was found that the total protein content of kernel: of three field corn varieties grown in Central America varied more between locations than between varieties grown at the same location. The average protein content of the three field corn varieties ranged from 8.44% to 12.12%.

Embryos of the field corn varieties contained a higher percentage of total protein than embryos of sweet corn. Thie fact suggests that field corn, which is low in quality from the standpoint of sweetness, contained a higher digestible protein content than sweet corn.