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8 Pag., 6 Tabl. ; [EN] Early-maturing flint maize germplasm could be an important alternative for the development of new early-maturing commercial hybrids adapted to cooler summer regions. Our objective was to evaluate the performance of flint populations in crosses with four testers from different heterotic groups, as sources of new potential inbred lines. Ten flint maize populations were crossed to four inbred testers representing Reid Yellow Dent, Lancaster Sure Crop and two Spanish flint heterotic groups. Topcrosses were evaluated in four environments in north eastern Spain in 2001 and 2002. The main type of gene action expressed was additive. All populations except Enano Norteño/Vasco and Hembrilla Norteño/Vasco, had a higher specific combining ability in crosses with Reid Yellow Dent or Lancaster Sure Crop testers. Average yields were better when populations were crossed with dent lines rather than with the flint inbred line EP42. These results could be useful in the development of new inbred lines that would increase genetic variability present in commercial European flint maize. ; [ES] La evaluación de germoplasma liso precoz de maíz podría ser importante como una alternativa para el desarrollo de nuevos híbridos comerciales precoces adaptados a regiones templadas y potencialmente útiles para producir grano de alta calidad. Nuestros objetivos fueron evaluar el potencial de poblaciones lisas precoces y estimar el rendimiento de este germoplasma en cruzamientos con probadores de diferentes grupos heteróticos para el desarrollo de híbridos precoces de maíz grano. Diez poblaciones de maíz grano se cruzaron con cuatro probadores que representan Reid Yellow Dent, Lancaster Sure Crop y dos grupos heteróticos europeos. Los cruzamientos fueron evaluados en cuatro ambientes en el noreste de España durante 2001 y 2002, siendo la expresión génica expresada aditiva. Todas las poblaciones cruzadas, excepto Enano Norteño/Vasco y Hembrilla Norteño/Vasco, mostraron una mayor aptitud combinatoria específica en cruzamientos con probadores Reid Yellow Dent o Lancaster Surecrop. El mejor rendimiento medio se produjo cuando todas las poblaciones se cruzaron con las líneas dentadas en lugar de con la línea lisa EP42. Estos resultados podrían ser útiles para desarrollar nuevas líneas puras que incrementen la variabilidad presente en el maíz liso comercial europeo. ; Part of this work was financed by the Spanish Ministry of Education and Science project AGL2007- 64218/AGR, INIA (RF2007-00007-C05-04) and by Basque Government funds. ; Peer reviewed

The definitive version is available at http://www.inia.es/sjar ; Eight cycles of divergent mass selection for flowering time were performed in the synthetic maize (Zea mays L.) population Lazcano (EZS9, from Guipuzcoa, Spain). A trial with a randomised block design plus three replicates was then performed at two locations in northeastern Spain, and over two years, to compare flowering time in the original population and the material produced in the eight selection cycles. Linear regression coefficients were determined to estimate the average rate of selection response per cycle. Genetic gains with respect to the vegetative cycle and other major agronomic traits were obtained. Direct selection responses were significant and grain yield maintained. No negative correlated responses were obtained for any agronomic trait. Divergent mass selection for early flowering was therefore found to be efficient in this synthetic population ; This work was partially supported by the Spanish Ministry of Education and Science project AGL2004-06776-C02, and by Basque Government funds. ; Peer reviewed

Available online at www.inia.es/sjar ; European flint × U.S. dent is a common heterotic pattern used in early maize (Zea mays L.) breeding programs in Europe. Two maize synthetic populations, EZS1 (formed from four Spanish flint populations), and EZS2 (formed from four American dent populations), were developed at Zaragoza, Spain. The synthetics showed heterotic behavior and were subjected to six cycles of S1 recurrent selection for increased grain yield and reduced lodging. The objective of this research was to study the effectiveness of selection on grain yield and other agronomic traits in both synthetics. The original populations, EZS1C0 and EZS2C0, and the six cycles of selection of both, were evaluated in two locations during two years. Over six selection cycles, average yield of EZS1 and EZS2 increased by 0,82 Mg ha-1 and 0.93 Mg ha-1 per cycle, respectively, and lodging decreased by 2.76% and 2.44% per cycle, respectively. Gains due to selection for all traits in both synthetics were significant. It was concluded that S1 selection was effective in improving yield and reducing lodging in each synthetic to start a reciprocal recurrent selection. ; Part of this work was financed in the frame of Ministry of Education and Science of Spain project AGL2004-06776-C02-02 and for Basque Government funds. ; Peer reviewed

One hundred landraces of maize from Northern Spain were characterized on the basis of twenty-two morphological traits, and seventeen ecological variables (climatic, edaphic and topographic) associated with the collection site. High broad-sense heritabilities (≥ 0.6) were found for plant height, ear height, ear node number, ear length, mid-ear diameter, rows of kernels, kernels per row, cob weight and days to silking. Seven different groups were obtained with cluster analysis using plant and cycle traits, and discriminant analysis showed that leaf area, ear shape, tassel branches, rows of kernels, plant height, cob weight, and ear length were the most important traits for taxonomic classification. Seven populations with promising breeding value were detected. ; This work was supported by the Department of Agriculture of the Basque Government (Spain) and partially by CICYT (Project AGF98-0968-C02-2) ; Peer Reviewed

Potato tubers are considered an important source of bioactive compounds, although the concentrations of different phytochemicals are affected by cooking and other processes. The present study was focused on evaluating the effect of boiling on total phenolic, anthocyanin and carotenoid concentrations of ten promising introgressed breeding lines from native potato species (Solanum tuberosum subsp. andigena Hawkes and Solanum stenotomum Juz. & Bukasov) and three heirloom Spanish S. tuberosum L. cultivars (Jesu¿ s, Morada and Zamora). In addition, three commercial cultivars (Vitelotte, Kasta and Monalisa) with different flesh color were used as testers. Breeding lines NK-08/349 and NK-08/362 showed high total phenolic (TP) and total anthocyanin concentrations (TA), whereas breeding lines NK-08/286, NK-08/356 and NK-08/370 and the cultivar Morada were characterized by a high carotenoid concentration (TC). In general, purple cultivars and breeding lines (Vitelotte, Morada, Jesus, Kasta, NK-08/349 and NK-08/362) stood out with showed high phenolic and anthocyanin concentrations. The comparative analysis of raw and boiled tubers showed high losses of phenolics, anthocyanins and carotenoids. TP, TA and TC concentrations in boiled tubers were directly correlated with their corresponding concentration in the raw product. In addition, significant correlations (p 0.05) between TA and TP concentrations, in both raw and boiled tubers, have been observed. The utilization of peeled and diced tubers, with the subsequent surface increase, seems to be a determinant factor explaining why phytochemical losses were so high. ; This work was supported by funding from the Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación (Spanish Government, Projects AGL2010-14850/ALI, RTA2011-00018-C03-01 and RFP2012-00006) and the Consejería de Economía, Innovación, Ciencia y Empleo (Junta de Andalucía, Project P08-AGR-03477). DHM and LGG are members of the IBERCAROT Network, funded by CYTED (ref. 112RT0445). Thanks are due to Visitación Ortega Márquez for her technical assistance on phytochemical extractions. ; Peer Reviewed

Breeding maize (Zea mays L.) for traditional agriculture can increase quality and added value of agricultural products and allow the recovery of traditional foods. The objectives of this work were to evaluate improved open-pollinated populations under organic and conventional agriculture in order to determine the effects of selection for yield and flour yield and the relationship between agronomic and quality traits under both cropping systems. We have selected open-pollinated maize populations for flour yield and bakery quality under organic conditions, improved them under conventional conditions and evaluated the breeding programs under organic and conventional conditions. Breeding was efficient for grain and flour yield under organic agriculture for Meiro (an open-pollinated population with black grains) but not for the other populations neither in organic nor in conventional conditions. Yield ranks of varieties were moderately correlated under both conditions, and genotype × environment interaction (GE) was significant for most traits when the analyses of variance were made over all environments but also when organic and conventional environments were separated. GE was higher under organic agriculture. Correlations between traits were higher under conventional agriculture and there were important discrepancies between correlations in organic and conventional agriculture. We concluded that selection under conventional agriculture was efficient for one population under organic agriculture. Selection under the target environment could increase the possibilities of success. ; Research was supported by the Spanish Plan for Research and Development (project code AGL2010-22254), the Basque Government, and the Diputación Provincial de Pontevedra. ; Peer Reviewed

BACKGROUND: Over the last two decades, the attractive colours and shapes of pigmented tubers and the increasing concern about the relationship between nutrition and health have contributed to the expansion of their consumption and a specialty market. Thus, we have quantified the concentration of health promoting compounds such as soluble phenolics, monomeric anthocyanins, carotenoids, vitamin C, and hydrophilic antioxidant capacity, in a collection of 18 purple- and red-fleshed potato accessions. RESULTS: Cultivars and breeding lines high in vitamin C, such as Blue Congo, Morada and Kasta, have been identified. Deep purple cultivars Violet Queen, Purple Peruvian and Vitelotte showed high levels of soluble phenolics, monomeric anthocyanins, and hydrophilic antioxidant capacity, whereas relatively high carotenoid concentrations were found in partially yellow coloured tubers, such as Morada, Highland Burgundy Red, and Violet Queen. CONCLUSION: The present characterisation of cultivars and breeding lines with high concentrations of phytochemicals is an important step both to support the consideration of specialty potatoes as a source of healthy compounds, and to obtain new cultivars with positive nutritional characteristics. Moreover, by using near infrared spectroscopy a non-destructive identification and classification of samples with different levels of phytochemicals is achieved, offering an unquestionable contribution to the potato industry for future automatic discrimination of varieties. ; This work was financed within the frame of INIA's project RTA2013-00006-C03 and the Basque Government.

Potato (Solanum tuberosum, L) compounds are generally determined by analytical methods including gasliquid chromatography (GLC), HPLC and UV-VIS spectrophotometry. These methods require a lot of time and are destructive. Therefore, they seem to be not suitable for in-line applications in the food industry. Nearinfrared spectroscopy (NIRS) is a technique that presents some advantages over reference methods for quantitative analysis of agricultural and food products since it is fast, reliable and non-destructive. For this reason, in this study, quantitative analyses were carried out to determine main compounds in potatoes using NIRS. Potato tubers grown in two consecutive years were used for the analyses. NIR spectral acquisition was acquired on lyophilized samples. In year 1, a total of 135 samples were used while 228 samples were used in year 2. Lyophilized samples were also scanned by NIRS, two replicates per samples were acquired and the mean spectrum of each sample was used for the analysis. Different chemical analyses were carried out each year. Thus, in year 1 the following parameters were quantified: reducing sugars (RS) and nitrogen (N), whereas in year 2, total soluble phenolics (TSP) and hydrophilic antioxidant capacity (HAC) were extracted and quantified. Then, chemometric analyses were performed using Unscrambler X (version 10.3, CAMO software AS, Oslo, Norway) to correlate wet chemical analysis with spectral data. Quantitative analyses based on PLS regression models were developed in order to predict the above chemical compounds of tubers in a non-destructive manner. Good PLS regression models were obtained for the prediction of nitrogen and TSP with coefficients of determination (R2) above 0.83. Moreover, PLS models obtained for the estimation of HAC could be used for screening and approximate calibrations. ; This work was financed within the frame of INIA's project RTA2013-00006-C03-01-03, the Basque Government and the Universidad Pública de Navarra through the concession of a predoctoral research grant.

Maize is traditionally used for bakery in several countries, and autochthonous varieties are increasingly demanded particularly for organic agriculture, but one of the dangers of cereal consumption is mycotoxin contamination. Mycotoxins are dangerous for health and might be present in any grain depending on genotypes and environments. In the present work we assess the natural levels of fumonisin and deoxynivalenol (DON) contaminations in nine diverse open-pollinated maize varieties grown in four different locations, under organic or conventional conditions, in two regions from the humid Spain during two years. Differences were significant among locations and among varieties for fumonisin contamination but not for DON content. Locations were the main environmental source of variation affecting fumonisins while DON was more affected by years. The Basque locations had more fumonisin than the Galician locations, but there were no differences between organic and conventional environments. Fumonisin contamination was more variable than DON among locations and among varieties. Fumonisin and DON were highly correlated on average but correlations were low for each particular environment. Mean fumonisin and DON were below the threshold allowed by the EU, but the white-kernel medium late variety Rebordanes(P)C2 had more than 4.00mg/kg of fumonisin in one location, while the early yellow variety Sarreaus had the lowest contamination. We conclude warning producers of the danger of natural contamination with mycotoxins for some varieties in specific environments. ; Research was supported by the Spanish Plan for Research and Development (project code AGL2010-22254, AGL2009-12770), the Basque Government, and the Diputación Provincial de Pontevedra. ; MICINN ; Diputación de Pontevedra ; Peer Reviewed