Environmental impact of phytic acid in Maize (Zea mays. L) genotypes for the identification of stable inbreds for low phytic acid.

Phytic acid is a ubiquitous compound that chelates the micronutrients in food and hinder their absorption. Hence, breeding for low phytate content for producing stable low phytic acid (lpa) hybrids is essential. Phytic acid content in maize grains has been found to vary across environments and its stable expression has yet to be explored. In a view of this, forty inbreds were screened with two checks viz., CO-6 and CO-H(M)-8 across three locations. Twenty morphological and three quality traits were observed to identify the stable lines for low phytic acid with higher free inorganic phosphorous and starch. Among all the lines, UMI-467, LPA-2-285, LPA-2-395 and UMI-447 recorded a stable performance in both AMMI and GGE biplot analysis for low phytic acid (2.52-3.32 mg/g). These lines also had a higher free inorganic phosphorous, ensuring its bioavailability (1.78-1.88 mg/g). There were perturbations in yield, starch and seed characteristics of the stable low phytic acid lines due to their lower phytic acid concentrations. This stated the role of phytic acid in plant physiology and established the constraints to be faced in breeding for low phytic acid in maize. Among the lpa lines, LPA-2-285 (57.83%) and UMI-447 (55.78%) had the highest average starch content. The lowest stable phytic acid content was observed in UMI-467 (2.52 mg/g) and this line had severe reductions in yield parameters. Considering the seed and yield characteristics, LPA-2-285, LPA-2-395 and UMI-447 performed better than UMI-467. Although these four stable lines were poor in their adaptability among all the genotypes, they could be utilised as promising stable donors to facilitate the development of stable lpa hybrids. © Prof. H.S. Srivastava Foundation for Science and Society 2020.