Does foliar nicotinamide application affect second crop corn (Zea mays)?

Abstract

The largest corn yeld in Brazil is currently in the second harvest, which is the most susceptible period to climatic adversities occurring during the cycle. Thus, introducing beneficial elements for maintaining the adequate development of the plant can help producers in obtaining greater kernel yields. Among studied elements, nicotinamide has potential use since it is associated with accumulating secondary metabolites and manifesting defence metabolism in plants. The objective of this work was to evaluate the influence of nicotinamide applied in different doses (only once or in instalments) on the biometric and productive characteristics of corn. The treatments were composed by the number of nicotinamide applications (one or two) and five doses (0, 50, 100, 150 and 200 mg L-1). Plant diameter, plant height, ear insertion height, leaf area and dry matter, yield and 100-kernel mass were evaluated. It was found that doses close to 100 mg L-1 resulted in increases in vegetative and reproductive development, regardless of the number of applications. In this way, foliar nicotinamide application positively influences the biometric and productive characteristics of second crop corn. Highlights The use of nicotinamide in corn plants improves its growth, yield components and grain yield. A single application of nicotinamide during vegetative stage V3 at a dose of 100 mg L-1 is sufficient to increase the leaf area of corn plants. Corn grain yield can be increased by 12.6% with a single application of nicotinamide. There was no need for two applications of nicotinamide in corn crop.

Biostimulant potential of Azospirillum brasilense and nicotinamide for hydroponic pumpkin cultivation

“…When the products are applied together, the positive effects of the application of A. brasilense are added to the biostimulant action of the vitamin, which includes an increase in photosynthetic activity (Vendruscolo et al, 2023b), stomatal functionality (Ramos et al, 2023) and leaf pigment content (Elsayed et al, 2022), resulting in higher yield of species such as corn (Colla et al, 2021) and lettuce (Vendruscolo et al, 2023a). Also, the presence of nicotinamide stimulates root development (Figure 6C) since its application favors the expression of genes related to auxin production and, consequently, root development (Ahmad et al, 2021;Laurell et al, 2022).…”

“…In the context of the use of new inputs, the use of biostimulants has stood out in the cultivation of grainproducing species, such as corn (Colla et al, 2021), but has also gained prominence for application in the cultivation of horticultural species (Garcia et al, 2023;Gaiotto et al, 2023). Thereby, one of the products that stand out is made up by Azospirillum brasilense, which promotes plant growth, improves photosynthetic efficiency, and increases hormonal, nutritional, and pigment content, also modulating the expression of genes that promote growth, yield, and quality of vegetables, including under hydroponic cultivation Oliveira et al, 2022;2023).…”

Management of Inoculation with Bradyrhizobium japonicum and Application of Vitamins for Hydroponic Soybean Cultivation

“…As a complement to inoculation, among the various emerging technologies used to obtain better conditions for plant growth and production, B vitamins have been successfully applied both in field conditions [ 12 ] and in hydroponic cultivation [ 4 ]. Among these vitamins, thiamine (vitamin B1) acts as an enzymatic cofactor in glucose metabolic pathways, as a coenzyme in the decarboxylation-oxidation of pyruvate in the pentose phosphate and tricarboxylic cycle pathways (Krebs cycle) [ 13 , 14 ].…”

Effect of B vitamins on lettuce plants subjected to saline stress

“…Another substance with application to crop systems is niacin (vitamin B3), which is also found in several physiological systems of plants. It helps in vegetative growth and accumulation of reserves and minimizes adversities that the plant may undergo from stress (Taiz et al, 2017;Colla et al, 2021).…”