SELECTION OF PURPLE MAIZE (Zea mays L.) GERMPLASM WITH POTENTIAL FOR PIGMENT EXTRACTION

Abstract

Purple grain maize has a high content of anthocyanins that can be used as pigments to meet the growing demand by the food industry. Purple grain maize germplasm of both, domestic (13 accessions) and exotic (20 accessions from Peru, 13 from Ecuador and two from Costa Rica) origin was evaluated, along with the landraces purple maize (MCP) and Negro Ixtenco as controls, with the aim of identifying accessions with high anthocyanin content to develop improved varieties for pigment extraction. The accessions were multiplied in Coatlinchán, State of Mexico. Plant morphological variables, earliness and plant health were evaluated. In the grain, the location of pigment, endosperm type (ET), weight of one-hundred seeds (WHS) and content of anthocyanins in pericarp (CATp) and grain (CATg) were determined. The exotic populations of Ecuador and Peru presented a maturity cycle, plant health, plant and ear height, and tolerance to lodging similar to the Mexican populations, while the ET was floury in the three groups. The pigment of grain in the exotic accessions was located in the pericarp, while in the domestic ones it was in the pericarp and the aleurone layer. The relationship between CATp and CATg was positive and more precise when anthocyanins were found only in the pericarp than in the pericarp and aleurone layer. The main difference in anthocyanins profile between exotic and national germplasm was the presence of low-polarity compounds present in the former and absent in the latter. The populations with the highest anthocyanin content in both pericarp and whole grain were those from Ecuador and Peru.