Genetic Variation for Biofortifying The Maize Grain

Abstract

The maize germplasm variation is valuable for breeders to develop elite hybrids with increased mineral contents in the maize grain to eliminate mineral malnutrition, which is referred as HIDEN HUNGER. Therefore, we aimed to determine mineral element diversity of maize landraces collected from different geographical regions of Turkey. There was huge diversity for all mineral traits and other quality traits. Turkish maize landraces showed high variation for Zn (17-41.34 mg kg-1), Fe (13.52-29.63 mg kg-1), Cu (0.77-3.34 mg kg-1), Mn (5.68-14.78 mg kg-1), Protein (6.6-11.6%), starch content (73.3-80.0%), oil content (3.15-4.7%) and thousand grain weight (177.0-374.9g). There were significant positive and negative associations among mineral elements and quality traits. The principal component analysis differentiated some maize landraces from the rest, and these diverse landraces could be used in the maize breeding program with biofortification purpose.