Phenolic Profile and Susceptibility to Fusarium Infection of Pigmented Maize Cultivars.

Jamila Bernardi,Lorenzo Stagnati,Giovanni De Poli,Gabriele Rocchetti,Carolina Cortellini,Alessandra Lanubile,Matteo Busconi,Luigi Lucini,Adriano Marocco

doi:10.3389/fpls.2018.01189

Jamila Bernardi, Lorenzo Stagnati + Show 7 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3389/fpls.2018.01189

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Abstract

Maize is a staple food source in the world, whose ancient varieties or landraces are receiving a growing attention. In this work, two Italian maize cultivars with pigmented kernels and one inbred line were investigated for untargeted phenolic profile, in vitro antioxidant capacity and resistance to Fusarium verticillioides infection. “Rostrato Rosso” was the richest in anthocyanins whilst phenolic acids were the second class in abundance, with comparable values detected between cultivars. Tyrosol equivalents were also the highest in “Rostrato Rosso” (822.4 mg kg−1). Coherently, “Rostrato Rosso” was highly resistant to fungal penetration and diffusion. These preliminary findings might help in breeding programs, aiming to develop maize lines more resistant to infections and with improved nutraceutical value.

Highlights

Maize is the most cultivated cereal grain throughout the world, considering both yield and harvested area (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development-OECD and FAO, 2015)
Three colored genotypes (“Nostrano della Val di Non,” “Rostrato Rosso” and “Purple B73”) and a yellow hybrid used as reference (“Agrister”), were characterized both for vegetative and reproductive traits
“Rostrato Rosso” was found to be significantly different from all other maize genotypes, while “Val di Non” response to infection was not different from that of the control. These results suggest that within colored maize cultivars different levels of resistance can be evidenced: “Rostrato Rosso” was the most resistant and “Purple B73” was the most susceptible (Table 6 and Figures 5A,B)

Summary

Introduction

Maize is the most cultivated cereal grain throughout the world, considering both yield and harvested area (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development-OECD and FAO, 2015). Carotenoids are the common pigments in maize, insoluble compounds that accumulate in the endosperm and confer the typical orange color. Most of the cultivated maize has yellow kernels, but some varieties possess the ability to pigment different tissues (i.e., anthers and roots), especially in response to stresses. Phenolic compounds such as flavonoids, are responsible for the red, purple, blue and black coloration of kernels and other parts of the plant. Accumulation of pigments can occur in two tissues, namely the pericarp, the maternal-derived tissue, rather than the aleurone that is the peripheral part of

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