Total Content of Carotenoids in Corn Landraces and Their Potential Health Applications

The research was designed to quantify the carotenoid compounds from the experimental variability of the corn genotypes. The experimental material for the present investigation consisted of 19 corn hybrids from Agricultural Research and Development Station (ARDS)Turda, Romania. The experiment was carried out during two seasons 2011 and 2012. Corn hybrids Turda 215, Mold Turda 188, Turda 200, Turda SU 181 and HS 105 were noticed by the fact that in the year of culture 2012, they showed a beginning of accumulation of total content of carotenoids more than 27 µg/g DW as compared to 15 µg/g DW corresponding to the year o culture 2011 due to soil and climate conditions favoring the accumulation of carotenoid compounds. According to our study, the highest concentration of TC was recorded in light yellow, dark yellow and orange hybrids.