Proximate Composition, Fatty Acid Profile and Mycotoxin Contamination in Several Varieties of Mexican Maize

Abstract

In Mexico maize (Zea mays L.) is an important cereal due to excellent taste and nutritional value. Nutritional content and fatty acid profile has been reported in white maize, however, there are several genotypes natives (red, yellow, black, blue, pinto), and many improved hybrids maize of which little is known. Fumonisins and aflatoxins are mycotoxins present in 25% of the world's cereals, mainly in tropical and subtropical regions around the world. This study presents the analysis of proximate composition (ash, protein, lipids), as well as mycotoxins (fumonisins and aflatoxins) and five different fatty acids, two of saturated fatty acids (palmitic and stearic) and three of polyunsaturated fatty acids (oleic, linoleic and linolenic), evaluated by Gas Chromatography and Flame Detector (GC-DF). Thirty varieties of maize (native and hybrid maize) were collected in states of central region. The total fumonisins were determined using the QuickTox TM extraction and quantificated by QuickScan fumonisins; the aflatoxins were analyzed by commercial ELISA kit. The highest protein level was 10.43 g/100g, 5.63 g/100g for fat, 1.62 g/100g for ash in hybrid maize. In native maize, the highest levels of protein and ash were 10.94 g/100g and 1.45 g/100g for pinto maize. The higher value for fat was 5.45 g/100g in yellow maize. The palmitic and stearic acids, in native maize were higher that hybrid maize, for linoleic acid and linoleinic fatty with a significant difference between native corn. Fumonisins and aflatoxins were contaminated in all genotypes of maize, in allow levels. This information obtained may be considered in maize breeding programs, industrialization processes and healthy diets.

Assessment of the Effects of Genotype, Location, and Planting Season on the Nutritional Composition and the Metabolizable Energy of Advanced Twenty-Five Maize Hybrids

“…Maize generally has high carbohydrates and is a source of calories [27]; hence the analyzed hybrids in this study can be a good source of calories and good quality because the quality of grains is determined by their carbohydrate, protein, and oil content [9]. The proximate composition of the maize hybrids analyzed in this experiment agreed with previous authors [1,2,4,6,8,[28][29][30][31]. Maize quality traits such as carbohydrates, protein, and fat are more affected by the environment than the genotype [9].…”

“…Maize (Zea mays L.) is a staple crop, as it is widely consumed across the globe. It has a world production of about 967 million metric tons yearly [2,3], and, due to its taste and availability, maize is regarded as Mexico's most popular cereal crop [4]. It is also referred to as the nutritional backbone in central, southern, and eastern Zambia [5].…”

The Effect of Maize-Soybean Intercropping Systems on a Set of Technological and Physiological Properties

“…Our results on the maize linolenic acid content are consistent with that reported to be 0.65-0.95% in Betancourt et al (2017), while they are below those reported to be 1.31 -2.02% in Akıncı et al (2011…”

“…Our results on the maize linoleic acid content are above those reported to be 41.84 -50.70% in Betancourt et al (2017).…”