Evaluation of Correlations between Nutrients, Fatty Acids, Heavy Metals, and Deoxynivalenol in Corn (Zea mays L.)

This study was conducted to develop linear regression equations to estimate nutrients, fatty acids, heavy metals, color characteristics (L,∗ a,∗ b∗), and deoxynivalenol (DON) level of corn grains (n = 54) collected from different feed mills in Turkey. Procc corr and reg procedures were used to analyze the data. Among the nutrients, asit detergent lignin, Ca, and P had the highest variability. The heavy metal concentrations (Cd, Cr, Cu, Ni, Pb, and Zn) were lower than certain limits posted by regulation agencies for animals. Occurrence of DON was 53%, with the highest level of 0.725 ppm. Total of 32 highly significant (P < 0.01) correlations among nutrients, fatty acids, heavy metals, and color characteristics were determined in the current study. Correlations for estimating the range of parameters measured in corn from color characteristics lacked the practical importance. The correlations between C18:2 C18:1, ADF−NDF, Zn−Ca, Pb−Cu, and Pb−Cd produced the highest R (0.64 to 0.87) and R2 (0.41 to 0.74) values that would be of practical importance. The research showed that there are significant correlations among different components in corn grains that could provide necessary information to both plant breeders and feed manufacturers in the field.