Maize growth at initial stages in volatile organic compounds produced by Trichoderma spp.

The fungus Trichoderma proves to be a rich and promising source of new compounds, with plant growth regulatory activity, its biological activity may be associated with different volatile metabolites. The objective was to evaluate the efficiency of volatile compounds of Trichoderma spp., its potential for morphophysiological improvement as a growth promoter in the maize culture. The experiment had a completely randomized design, with six treatments and four replications. The treatments were composed of: Trichoderma virens (UFT-57); Trichoderma harzianum (UFT-25); Trichoderma pinnatium (UFT-37); Trichoderma longibrachiatum (UFT-204); Trichoderma asperellum (UFT-201) and control without fungiculture. The data obtained were submitted to multivariate analysis, using principal component analysis (PCA). The VOCs produced by Trichoderma spp. isolates improve the growth and development of maize culture, as they increase mass production and alter plant morphophysiology, especially plant height, leaf area, absolute and relative growth rate, Falker chlorophyll index, CO2 assimilation rate, and instant carboxylation efficiency (RUBIS). Trichoderma virens (UFT-57) was generally the best result among the main characteristics evaluated, followed by Trichoderma longibrachiatum (UFT-204) and these were the ones that made the VOCs more efficient for culture, increasing the initial growth of maize.