Evaluación de algunos atributos de la calidad física y fisiológica de semillas de maíz dulce (Zea mays sacharata) bajo diferentes condiciones de almacenamiento y época de cosecha

In Colombia, sweet corn (Zea mays saccharate) is of great importance for producers and consumers of fresh grain. Agrosavia has developed a new variety of sweet corn for small producers in the Caribbean region who can produce their own seed. The study aimed to evaluate the physiological quality of sweet corn seed under different storage, packaging and harvesting conditions. Two experiments, cold storage and environmental conditions, were established at the Analytical Chemistry Laboratory of AGROSAVIA, where the effect of packaging and harvest time on germination, viability, temperature and humidity of sweet corn seeds was evaluated. The seed germination and viability under cold storage conditions (10 °C and 60 RH) were higher (P<0.05) when stored in plastic packaging (81.9 %) compared to paper (76.3 %). For environmental temperature conditions (28 °C and 85 RH), the highest germination percentage (P<0.05) was presented in the plastic packaging from 60 to 120 days of storage in seed harvested at 90 days. According to this study, sweet corn seed can be harvested at physiological maturity (90 days) and packaged in plastic containers preserving the quality for up to 120 days. Paper bag treatment germination can be drastically reduced after 60 days of storage.