Grain yield and mineral composition of corn as influenced by endosperm type and nitrogen

Abstract

Corn (Zea mays L.) is a major source of nutrition for humans and animals. Chemical and physical properties of corn endosperm vary among hybrids, are influenced by genotype and environment, and may affect the crop's response to nitrogen (N) fertilization. The objective of the study was to measure the responses of grain yield and grain N, phosphorus (P), potassium (K), calcium (Ca), magnesium (Mg), manganese (Mn), iron (Fe), boron (B), zinc (Zn,) and copper (Cu) concentration of different endosperm types to N fertilization. The study was conducted at two Ohio locations in 1988, where six endosperm types and two N rates (34 and 200 kg N/ha) were combined in a split plot arrangement. Nitrogen rate (main plots) had little effect on yield at either location, and the soft endosperm hybrid was the only hybrid to respond to N fertilizer. Within fertilizer level, hybrids differed in grain yield with the waxy hybrid out yielding the normal endosperm hybrid, and the hard endosperm hybrid out yielding the soft one at the 200 kg N/ha rate. Application of N fertilizer increased the grain N concentration of all hybrids. Grain of the waxy hybrid contained an equal or greater N concentration than the normal hybrid. In contrast, no difference in N level was found between hard and soft endosperm hybrids at either fertilizer level. Climatic conditions and soil fertility differences might have been partly responsible for location effects. Genetic make‐up could have been a factor in differing hybrid response since grain concentration of nutrients Varied by location, endosperm type, and N treatment.