Anthocyanin content and physical characteristics of kernels from 300 pigmented maize accessions

Pigmented corn boasts more antioxidants and superior nutritional quality than white or yellow corn. Identifying varieties with high anthocyanin content is crucial due to their positive impact on human health. This research aimed to characterize 300 accessions of pigmented maize from Mexico based on the physical characteristics of the grain and total anthocyanin content, targeting to employ them in genetic improvement programs. The averages of total anthocyanin content, percentage of floating seeds (indicating hardness), weight of one thousand seeds, length, width, thickness, dimension, coloration percentage, and coloration location were estimated. Subsequently, a correlation analysis of anthocyanin content, hardness, length, width, thickness, dimension, and weight of one thousand seeds was conducted, followed by a principal component (PC) analysis using these variables. The anthocyanin content ranged from 136.53 (HIDA 247) to 723.9 (HIDA 250) mu g g -1 . Approximately 47.3% of the accessions exhibited a desirable degree of hardness, and 68% demonstrated acceptable hardness for the nixtamal industry. Moreover, 100% showed an average width greater than 4.76 mm, rendering them suitable for this industry. The weight of one thousand seeds ranged from 239 to 532 g for CHIS 1089 and MICH 86, respectively. Blue coloration predominated (70 %). Pigmentation was mainly in the aleurone (88 %). Anthocyanin content showed no correlation with physical characteristics, but hardness correlated with length and dimension ( p <= 0.05 ). In the first two principal components, the variables with the greatest relevance were thousand -seed weight, length, and thickness (PC1), and anthocyanin content, hardness, and kernel width (PC2). The variability observed in this research may enable the selection of maize accessions with high total anthocyanin content.