Abstract:

Maize stalk is the main resource for ruminant feed, which is above 50% of total plant. In order to provide materials and exploit them rationally in the process of high quality silage maize breeding, 102 domestic and foreign inbred lines, including 91 normal oil corn (NOC) and 11 high oil corn (HOC) inbred lines were evaluated on seven stalk quality traits such as in vitro dry matter digestibility (IVDMD), crude protein (CP), ether extract (EE), the water soluble carbohydrate (WSC), acid detergent fiber (ADF), acid detergent lignin (ADL), and neutral detergent fiber (NDF). The technique of near infrared diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (NIDRS) were used to determine these values. The results showed that every quality trait had highly significant variation, the coefficient of variation (CV) of WSC was the highest (33.15%). IVDMD and other quality parameters were almost in normal distribution respectively. The correlation analysis among quality traits of inbred lines showed that IVDMD had a significant negative correlation with NDF, ADF, and ADL at P<0.01, but a significant positive correlation with WSC, EE, and CP at P<0.01 or P<0.05. The order of the traits influencing stalk quality from large to small was IVDMD, ADF, NDF, WSC, ADF, CP, and EE. Five elite inbred lines with high IVDMD and WSC and low ADF and NDF were selected to be further used for breeding programs.

Key words: Maize ( Zea mays L.), Inbred line, Stalk, Quality trait, Principal component analysis