Effect of Harvest Date on Kernel Quality and Antioxidant Activity in su1 Sweet Corn Genotypes

Abstract

In order to achieve a high-quality product, sweet corn should be harvested at the optimal stage of maturity. The taste of sweet corn depends largely on the kernel moisture (KM) and total sugars (TS) content while its health properties are attributed to the content of total phenols (TPH) and antioxidant activity (AO). This study aimed to estimate quality in sugary (su1) sweet corn hybrids based on the maximum content of kernel chemical compounds and the content change during maturation. During two growing seasons, five harvests by year were made at 2-day intervals from 17 to 25 days after pollination (DAP). KM decreased among hybrids from 6.6% to 14% over an eight-day period, or 0.8% to 1.8% per day. TS content was the highest at 17 DAP (16.5–28.7 mg/g DW) and decreased during maturation from 27% to 67%. Hybrids differed significantly in TPH at 17 DAP (204.4–357.1 mg GAE/100 g DW). TPH change during maturation ranged from the no significant differences up to a 29.3% decrease. DPPH- radical scavenging activity ranged among genotypes from 52.5% to 74.9% inhibition at 17 DAP and significantly increased during maturation. A well-defined hybrid-specific harvest window is necessary to maintain kernel quality in su1 sweet corn.

Effect of Anthocyanin-Enriched Brine on Nutritional, Functional and Sensory Properties of Pickled Baby Corn

“…Additionally, no other natural or artificial sweetener can match sucrose's crucial functional qualities in a variety of food products [35]. Sucrose was the main soluble sugar, accounting for approximately 62% of the soluble sugars in the control baby corn sample (Table 1), which is less than the 66.4% and 77.1% reported by Ledenčan et al [36]. In contrast, sucrose comprised between 9.6% and 30% of the total soluble sugar recorded in the samples of popping, semi-flint and sweet baby corn with salt and the same samples with salt and sugar (Table 1).…”

“…In support of this, the research by Zhu et al [37] found that sucrose content accounted for approximately 94%, 88%, and 85% of the soluble sugars in the different sweet corn genotypes. Generally, the content of each sugar, as well as the total sugar content, reach maximum levels at about 17 days after pollination and decrease during maturation [36]. The sucrose content in the control baby corn sample amounted to 17.79%, which was about 29-, 10-and 16-fold higher than that found in the popping, semi-flint and sweet baby corn samples with salt, respectively.…”

Genetic variation for endosperm carbohydrates and total soluble solids in shrunken2, sugary1, waxy1, and wild‐type near‐isogenic corn lines across three harvest dates

“…While sweet corn carbohydrate traits are generally considered highly heritable due to the large effect of recessive endosperm mutations on these traits, carbohydrate traits are Crop Science also highly impacted by timing of harvest (Ledenčan et al, 2022;Szymanek, 2009). It is of interest in a breeding program to determine if a prediction model for carbohydrate traits calibrated with 1 year of data can be used to accurately predict a second year.…”

Evolution of Compounds and Characteristics of Crops during Ripening and after Harvest

“…In the following article, Ledenčan et al [23] estimated the quality at harvest of sweet corn hybrids (su1), based on the maximum content of compounds of biological interest in the grain (total phenolic compounds and antioxidant capacity) and the change in the content of the moisture of the grain and total sugars during ripening. In this sense, to achieve a high-quality food, sweet corn must be harvested at the optimal state of maturation.…”