Pericarp Thickness, Tenderness, and Freeze-Drying of Super-Sweet Maize a .Thesis Submitted to The. Graduate Division of the Univ
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PERICARP THICKNESS, TENDERNESS, AND FREEZE-DRYING OF SUPER-SWEET MAIZE A .THESIS SUBMITTED TO THE. GRADUATE DIVISION OF THE UNIVERSITY OF HAWAII IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF SCIENCE IN HORTICULTURE AUGUST 1980 By Glenn Mitsuji Ito Thesis Comittee: James L. Brewbaker, Chairman Richard A. Criley James H. Moy ii We certify that we have read this thesis and that in our opinion it is satisfactory in scope and quality as a thesis for the degree of Master of Science in Horticulture. iii ABSTRACT Mass selection for tenderness was conducted on the variety 'Hawaiian Super-sweet No. 9' corn which was found to vary widely in tenderness. Selection was carried out on a 10 % selection intensity using criteria of pericarp thickness and bite-test. Selection was carried out for 3 cycles by pericarp thickness measurements and for 4 cycles by bite-testing. All cycles of selection were evaluated by both bite-testing and by pericarp thickness measurements. In the first cycle of selection where pericarp thickness and bite-test measurements were taken on the same ear, a signi ficant product moment correlation coefficient [ r = 98%) was found between bite-test scores and pericarp thickness measurements. Pericarp thickness evaluation on the cycles of selection indicated that pericarp thickness decreased by a greater margin when selected for by pericarp thickness than by bite-testing. However, when all cycles of selection were evaluated by bite-testing, the bite-test scores dropped more significantly for selection by bite-testing than by pericarp thickness measurements. There was no significant interaction between the germinal and abgerminal posi tions measured on the pericarp and the cycles of selection. A generation mean analysis involving crosses between thick and thin pericarped parents was conducted to evaluate the genetics of pericarp thickness. Additive and dominance gene effects were significant in determining pericarp thickness with additive effects being larger. The narrow sense heritability estimate was 51%. The average number of effective factors ranged from 1 through 7. No significant difference in pericarp thickness was: found between su and + kernels segregating on the FI ears. iv Nine mainland sweet c o m hybrids (Jubilee, Stylepak, Bonanza, NK51036, GCB (N), GCB (T), Midway, and Gold Winner) and a tropical sweet corn hybrid (E68) were evaluated at the locations of Waimanalo and Lalamilo to assess the effect of temperature on pericarp thickness. Generally, all except 3 hybrids Clobelle, GCB (N), and GCB (T)) behaved similarly at both locations. Pericarp thickness was also observed to be lower at sweet c o m stage than at maturity. A survey of pericarp thickness on 85 different races of maize was conducted. Some of the races that were duplicately sampled differed only by a second descriptive name for ear characteristics. In some cases, these were similar in pericarp thicknesses while in other cases they were different in pericarp thicknesses. Some of the same races maintained in different seed lots were dissimilar in pericarp thickness. A wide genetic variation in pericarp thickness occurred in the group of races analyzed. Pericarp thickness ranged from 35.8 to 124.4 microns. Two experiments were conducted to evaluate the influence of various endosperm genotypes on the pericarp thickness. In the first experiment, 15 mutants backcrossed to CM104 were evaluated for pericarp thickness. Generally, all mutants highly backcrossed into CM104 were of similar pericarp thicknesses. However, the sh2 mutant seemed to be linked to thick pericarps. Otherwise, there is no evidence of the underlying endosperm affecting pericarp thickness. In the second experiment, 8 inbred lines and their o2_ counterparts were analyzed for pericarp thickness. No consistency was found in the data. Half of the comparisons indicated no differences between the + and o2_ lines whereas significant differences occurred in the other half. V A series of three freeze-drying experiments were conducted on 'Hawaiian Super-sweet No. 9' to improve the methodology and quality of the freeze-dried product. These were: 1) blanched versus unblanched kernels, 2) maturity preferences, and 3) increasing concentrations of brine solution applied to the kernels prior to freeze-drying. The first two experiments were evaluated by sensory panelists on the quality of appearance and flavor. The last experment was evaluated by flavor only. Blanched and unblanched kernels were of similar flavor, but the blanched kernels were rated higher in appearance. Thus, they were selected over unblanched kernels. A harvest date of 25 days after pollination was selected as the optimum maturity by criteria of appearance and flavor. No treatment of th.e kernels with brine was found to be most practical in preparing a commercial freeze-dried super-sweet corn product. vi TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT ............................................................ iii LIST OF TABLES .................................................... ix LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS ............................................ xiii CHAPTER ONE: STUDIES OF TENDERNESS AND PERICARP THICKNESS IN MAIZE 1.1 INTRODUCTION...... ....................................... 1 1.2 LITERATURE REVIEW ...................................... 3 1.2.1 Quality of Sweet C o r n ............................ 3 1.2.2 Factors Determining Tenderness .................. 3 1.2.3 Anatomical and Morphological Characteristics of the P e r i c a r p .................................. 5 1.2.4 Developmental Characteristics of the Pericarp . 5 1.2.5 Methods of Determining Tenderness ............... 8 1.2.6 Genetics of Pericarp Thickness .................. 11 M e t a x e n i a .................................... 11 Inheritance of Pericarp Thickness ............ 12 Selection for Pericarp Thickness and Tenderness................................ 13 1.3 MATERIALS AND METHODS .................................. 15 1.3.1 Pericarp Thickness Measurements .................. 15 1.3.2 Selection for Pericarp Thickness and Tenderness . 16 1.3.3 Genetics of Pericarp Thickness: Generation Mean Analysis .................................... 19 1.3.4 Evaluation of Sweet Corn Hybrids for Pericarp Thickness at Two L o c a t i o n s ...................... 24 1.3.5 Pericarp Thickness of Some of the Mutants of M a i z e ........................................ 26 1.3.6 Pericarp Thickness of Various Endosperm M u t a n t s .......................................... 27 1.4 RESULTS AND D I S C U S S I O N .................................. 28 1.4.1 Cyclical Mass Selection for Tenderness .......... 28 1.4.1.1 Correlation of Pericarp Thickness With Bite-test and Maturity Tests of the Unpollinated E a r .......................... 28 1.4.1.2 Selection for Pericarp Thickness and for Lower Bite-test Scores .................... 33 1.4.1.3 Discussion .................................. 44 vii TABLE OF CONTENTS (.Continued) Page 1.4.2 Genetic Studies of Pericarp Thickness ............. 47 1.4.2.1 Generation Mean Analysis ................... 47 1.4.2.2 Evaluation of the Effects of + and su Endosperm Genotypes on Pericarp T h i c k n e s s ................................ 68 1.4.2.3 Discussion ................................ 68 1.4.3 Evaluation of Sweet C o m Hybrids for Pericarp Thickness at Two L o c a t i o n s ...................... .75 1.4.3.1 Results .................................. 75 1.4.3.2 Discussion ................................ 81 1.4.4 Survey of Pericarp Thickness in Some of the Races of M a i z e .............................. 82 1.4.5 Pericarp Thickness of Various Endosperm Mutant L i n e s ....................... .""T ........ 92 1.4.5.1 Analysis of Mutants Converted to C M 1 0 4 .................................... 92 1.4.5.2 Pericarp Thickness of o2^ and + Endosperm Types in Various Inbred L i n e s ............ 94 1.4.5.3 Discussion... .............................. 98 1.5 CONCLUSIONS ........................................... 99 CHAPTER TWO: ORGANOLEPTIC STUDIES OF FREEZE-DRIED 'HAWAIIAN SUPER-SWEET NO. 9' 2.1 INTRODUCTION..............................................101 2.2 LITERATURE R E V I E W ....................................... 103 2.3 MATERIALS AND M E T H O D S ................................... 104 2.3.1 Blanching Versus No Blanching .................... 104 2.3.2 Optimal Maturity for Freeze-drying of 'HSS91 . 105 2.3.3 Brined Freeze-dried 'HSS9' ...................... 105 2.3.4 Evaluations of Eating Quality ................... 106 2.4 RESULTS AND D I S C U S S I O N ................................. ... 2.4.1 Blanching Versus No Blanching Prior to Freeze-drying . .................................. 108 2.4.2 Optimum Maturity for Freeze-dried 'HSS9' 110 2.4.3 Brined Freeze-dried 'HSS9' ..... ........... 112 viii TABLE OF CONTENTS (.Continued) Pa§e 2.5 C O N C L U S I O N S .............................................. 115 APPENDIX ............................................................ 116 LITERATURE CITED .................................................... 131 xiii LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS Figure Page 1 Bivariate scatter and frequency-plot of pericarp thickness on each respective bite-test score ............ 31 2 Confidence intervals (95%) around the mean pericarp measurements for each bite-test score .................... 32 3 Mean pericarp thickness for cycles of selection selected through, criteria of pericarp thickness and bite-test . 36 4 Mean pericarp thickness of the germinal and abgerminal positions for each, cycle of selection