Color, contenido de antocianinas y dimensiones de semilla en líneas endogámicas de maíz azul y sus cruzas

The blue corn grain contains anthocyanins that give it its exotic color, it is appreciated in traditional Mexican gastronomy, it is currently considered a functional food for its contributions to human health, and its production is insufficient to supply the market. One option to increase its availability is to develop hybrids with high yield and pigment content. The objective of the present work was to examine the relationships between dimensions, color coordinates, and anthocyanin content in seeds of blue corn parental lines and their simple and trilinear crosses. Seeds of the experimental trilinear blue maize hybrid GIIM AZUL 10E and its parents (CEVAMEX-INIFAP, Mexico) were used. A completely randomized design with four replications (25 seeds) was used. Seed dimensions, anthocyanin content, and color coordinates (L*, a*, b*, c, h) were evaluated. The results were subjected to analysis of variance, means comparison (Tukey, P ≤ 0.05), linear correlation test, and multiple regression test. The experiments were carried out at UPIBI-IPN (Mexico City). It was obtained that the seeds of the parental lines, in comparison with the crosses, showed smaller dimensions, their blue color was more luminous, of lower purity (grayish) and with scarce saturation (little vivid) and their anthocyanin content was higher. Correlation and regression values indicated that anthocyanin content was inversely associated with seed dimensions and directly with low saturated blue color and reduced luminosity. The variables with the greatest contribution to the level of anthocyanins were, negatively, seed weight and saturation, and, positively, color purity.