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Titre : Effect of elevated CO2 concentration on growth, development and postharvest characteristics of sweetcorn (Zea mays L. var. saccharata)

Auteur : Dlulisa, Balungile Precious.

Université de soutenance : University of KwaZulu-Natal

Grade : Master of Science in Agriculture (Horticultural Science) 2022

Résumé partiel
Sweetcorn (Zea mays L. var. saccharata) is one of the world’s most consumed crop in the world and, available in different forms, as fresh maize on a cob and as canned food (baby maize and kernels). Sweetcorn is a horticultural vegetable of high nutritional and mineral quality with increasing demand. Alterations in atmospheric greenhouse gases (GHGs), specifically in carbon dioxide (CO2) has resulted in complex interactive effects on plants, particularly in the photosynthetic process. Most C4 crops, such as maize are particularly affected by the ‘fall-out’ of global warming, due to increasing temperatures hindering CO2 uptake due to stomatal closure. Information on the impact of elevated CO2 [eCO2] on C4 crops compared with C3 crops is scarce. Since CO2 enrichment has been reported to have a positive effect on total biomass of crops, sweetcorn plants grown in glasshouses, were exposed to eCO2. The use of structures, such as greenhouse, open field and open top chambers (OTC) have been used in order to maintain a certain eCO2 concentration and determine the effects of such eCO2 on certain crops. In the current study, ‘Mycelium CO2 generator bags’ were used to increase the CO2 concentration in one of the two adjacent glasshouses. The aim of the study was to subject selected sweetcorn hybrid cultivars (‘Assegai’ and ‘STAR7719’) to eCO2 and to record vegetative and reproductive parameters in response to eCO2. Such variables include growth, development and reproduction attributes. In addition, mineral nutrients of the fruit (kernels), leaf pigment concentrations and phytochemical parameters, such as ascorbic acid, and carotenoid concentrations, total kernel protein and total soluble solids (TSS) were analysed with the aim of recording potential alterations due to eCO2.

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