Inmersión de semillas de maíz en agua caliente en la producción de germinados para forraje

Immersion of maize seeds in hot water as a treatment to estimulate sprout production for forage. The objective of this work was to evaluate the tolerance to wear and the viability of seeds in three cultivars of maize. The study was conducted in Conkal, Yucatan, Mexico in June 2011. The cultivars used were Pais Tuxpeno (PT), X’nuuknal (X) and Sinaloa (S). Samples were subjected to 0, 2, 4, 6 and 8 seconds of immersion in water at 100°C to estimulate germination and development of sprouts. The variables evaluated were initial seed weight (ISW), germination percentage (GP), average number of days to germination (ADG), rate of speed of germination (RSG), fresh weight (FW) and dry (DW) of the germinated and the ratio of biomass production per unit of seed weight (FW:ISW). The PG was 96, 74 and 55% for PT, X and S respectively. The results showed differences (P ≤ 0.05) for all variables except the ADG. The immersion for 2 s increase the GP, RSG, FW, DW and FW:ISW in X and S but with immersion for 4 and 6 s these variables decreased. On the contrary, the PT immersed by 2 s decreased the PG to 75 %, but with immersion for 4 and 6 s all variables showed ascending values. The time of immersion, for 8 s severely affected to the three cultivar being PT the less affected because the FW only decreased by 35% while that for X and S the decrease was 61% and 42% respectively. In conclusion, PT showed higher tolerance to deterioration caused by immersion in hot water and thus the most recommended for the production of germinated for green forage.