20th Annual Student Research Conference
Science
An Investigation of Non-destructive Methods for Determining the Presence of Low Phytate Maize Genotypes
Courtney E. Bonney* and Jessica N. Ponder
Dr. Mark Campbell, Faculty Mentor
Animal agriculture is the second leading cause of phosphorus pollution. Recessive alleles lpa-1 and lpa-2 increase inorganic phosphorus, improving bioavailability of phosphorus from corn for non-ruminants which, therefore, can reduce the need for supplemental dietary phosphorus and the amount of phosphorus released into the environment. Our long term goal is to introduce low phytate alleles into USDA-GEM tropical germplasm and identify favorable genetic backgrounds. First, we attempted to construct a near-infrared calibration using materials segregating either lpa-1 or lpa-2. Near-infrared Transmittance spectroscopy (NITS) and reflectance spectroscopy (NIRS) studies on different maize samples produced correlations below values necessary for effective germplasm screening. The highest correlation, (r) of 0.41, was obtained using NIRS on ground bulk samples. Our present studies focus on the amount of phosphorus leached from maize kernels in Chen’s reagent. We found that this method could correctly predict the presence of low phytate kernels seventy percent of the time.
Keywords: maize, phosphorus pollution, phytate, phytic acid, NIRS, NITS, Chen's Reagent, non-destructive
Topic(s):Agricultural Science
Presentation Type: Oral Paper
Session: 62-2
Location: VH 1432
Time: 3:00 pm