Características agronômicas, qualidade e composição química dos grãos de híbridos simples de milho doce

Abstract

Sweet corn (Zea mays L.) possesses wide versatility, besides adding value to the product. This corn type has been consumed ‘in natura’ in several countries, in form of cooked ears, or in frozen or canned grains. In Brazil, several agribusinesses foment the production and commercialization of canned sweet corn. Thus, its cultivation has been growing gradually, attracting the attention of green corn producers. The present paper has as objective to evaluate the agronomic characters, the quality and the chemical composition of the grains of sweet corn, simple hybrids, appropriate for consumption ‘in natura’, and the corn to be used in the green corn industry. Seven lineages were selected and supplied for the dialectic crossing by the Program of Genetics Improvement of the State University of Maringá, thus obtaining 21 simple hybrids. The experimental outlining occurred by using complete randomized blocks with four replications. The characteristics appraised in the cultivars were: height of plants, height of ear insertion and mass of corn ears, without straw (kg ha-1). The chemical evaluations carried out were the ones regarding: determination of reducer and total sugars, starch, proteins, ethereal extract, fibers and ashes. Variance analysis was used for the statistical analyses, whereas Scott-Knott cluster test (1974) was used in the comparison of averages, with a minimum probability of 5%. For the combining analysis, between the genitor lineages and the simple hybrids obtained (usual combination capacity - UCC - and specific combination capacity - SCC), both, method 4 and the fixed model by Griffing (1956) were used. The average results obtained showed that there was no significant difference when the evaluating the height of plants and corns ears (P>0.05), but on xii the other hand, of chemical composition showed significant difference (P<0.05) in the test regarding average clustering, by Scott-Knott (1974) for the hybrids appraised. But L4 and L5 sweet corn lineages were the ones highlighted for the crossings accomplished in the combining analysis. Both, L4xL5 and L3xL7 hybrids were the most suitable for production, when aiming at obtaining the largest concentration of sugars, together with the smallest content of starch, in its compound.