Evaluation of morphological and kernel micronutrient traits in maize landraces

Maize grains contain high level of carotenoids and tocopherols compared with other cereals. Among carotenoids the β-carotene has the highest activity and is considered important in breeding programs of biofortified crops. Changes in carotenoids content in the maize grain could be influence of genotype x environment interaction, or effect of existing relationship between the color of the endosperm and the presence of carotenoids. This research was performed to estimate differences in morphological traits, grain content of tocopherols (α-, β+γ-, δ-), β-carotene, lutein and zeaxantin in local and introduced populations from Maize Research Institute 'Zemun Polje' gene bank. Micronutrient content was detected by using high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). Coefficient of variation for morphological traits was less than 10%, except for grain yield per plant which vary about 18,6%. α-tocopherol content was in the range from 1.04-8.42 μgg-1 DW, and β-carotene content varied from 0.26 to 7.95 μgg-1 DW. δ-tocopherol was in significant correlation with number of kernels per row (r=0.700***), and β+γ-tocopherol was in significant negative correlation with plant and ear height (r=-0.601***; r=-0.591**). Correlations between morphological traits and α-tocopherol were weak and without significance. Kernel color was significantly correlated with the content of zeaxantin (r=0,590***) and β-carotene (r=0,398*). For biofortification purposes a pool of 11 landraces with increased content of both, β-carotene and α-tocopherol, will be created based on obtained results.