Sugar Composition and Flavor Quality of High Sugar (Shrunken) and Normal Sweet Corn

ABSTRACT

Soluble sugar composition of the corn kernel in a shrunken (high sugar) variety, ‘Xtra Sweet 77′, and a normal sweet variety, ‘Jubilee’ was determined after freezing a corn-on-cob product at two levels of commercial harvest maturity by HPLC and enzymic methods of analysis. Sucrose, glucose and fructose were found in measurable amounts by both methods. The less mature sample of either variety contained the higher level of each sugar, at a sucrose:glucose:fructose ratio of approximately 15:1:1 in ‘Jubilee’ and 20:1:1 in ‘Xtra Sweet 77′. Sensory evaluation showed ‘Xtra Sweet 77’ which contained nearly twice the total sugars of ‘Jubilee’ to be sweeter. Sweetness differences between maturity samples within a variety were not significant, nor was there a consistent preference shown for the higher sweetness or overall quality of the ‘Xtra Sweet 77’ samples. Sensory perception of sweetness was most highly correlated with sucrose content.