The Breeding of Novel Colored and High Protein Quality Popcorn and Sweet Corn Varieties

This research involved three goals: 1) To breed varieties of high lysine sweet corn that contain the opaque-2 allele mutation, 2) to breed colorful varieties of sweet corn that are aesthetic and high in antioxidants; and 3) to introgress quality protein maize (modified o2) varieties into colorful popcorn varieties to make varieties of quality protein popcorn that are both high in lysine and antioxidants with a variety of tastes and textures while being aesthetically pleasing. For this study, crossbreeding and visual kernel assortment was used to select for desired phenotypic traits.