| dc.description.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
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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. | |
