In order to determine the optimum harvest time of vegetable corns, the changes in sugars, soluble solids, and flavor of kernels of sweet (cv. ‘Golden Cross Bantam 70’), super sweet (cv. ‘Cocktail E-51’), and waxy corns (cv. ‘Chalok 2’) were observed at different ripening stages. Sucrose was a major sugar in the sweet and super sweet corns and the content increased from 15 to 21 and 27 days after silking (DAS), respectively and then decreased. Glucose and fructose contents of sweet and super sweet corns tended to decrease with kernel maturity. Total sugar content of the sweet corn analyzed by the anthrone method increased rapidly from 15 to 21 DAS, while that of the super sweet and the waxy corns increased slowly up to 24 and 26 DAS, respectively and decreased thereafter. The content of soluble solids in sweet corn was much higher than that of super sweet corn. Starch content of the sweet corn increased slowly from 15 to 33 DAS, while that of the super sweet corn increased a little rapidly from 15 to 21 DAS and then leveled off to 33 DAS. Starch content of the waxy corn increased continuously from 21 to 38 DAS. There was a positive correlation between the sum of individual sugars (sucrose, glucose, and fructose) and soluble solids in both sweet and super sweet corns, while the content of soluble solids was not related to the sum of individual sugars or total sugars. The flavor rate of sweet and super sweet corns maintained high between 21 and 27 DAS and that of waxy corn decreased from 24 to 33 DAS. The optimum harvest time for sweet, super sweet, and waxy corns was thought to be 21 to 24 DAS considering sugar and starch contents, flavor, and marketing.

• Suk Soon Lee
• Sang Hee Yun
• Jae Hyeun Kim