Maize and Its Use in Human Food

Abstract

Maize is an important source of nutrition that also plays an important role in preventing chronic diseases. Maize is used in both human and animal feed. To improve the biochemical content, remarkable results have been obtained in terms of improving the content with starch (amylose and amylopectin), proteins (lysine, tryptophan, carotenoids), sugars or oil. The inbred lines from the Agricultural Research and Development Station Turda germplasm collection, with an increased content in the previously mentioned components, are used in maize breeding programs, both for thei mprovement of the inbred lines uses as the parental genotypes, through the use of backcrossing, and for the creation of new hybrids, superior from a qualitative point of view.