Worldwide consumption of sweet maize, in the past ten years, is significantly
increased. Such data indicate that phytochemicals content requires a higher attention in
addition to yield. Popularizations of phenolic compounds become worldwide trend due to
their benefits to human health. The usage of herbicides is widely present for weed control
in sweet maize growing practices. In this study the influence of two herbicides, on the
content of ferulic and cinnamic acid as well as on the total phenolic compounds (TPC) in
three sweet maize hybrids during two vegetation seasons was evaluated. Meteorological
conditions in 2016 were favorable for maize growing, opposite to 2017 which was a
drier year. The variability of examined phytochemicals after applied herbicides was
genotype-dependent and also influenced by growing seasons. Interestingly, for hybrids
ZP355su and ZP553su, a higher content of ferulic acid was found in treatment with
nicosulfuron in comparison to mesotrione. The same trend was noticed for cinnamic
acid content in all tested hybrids. Opposite trend was achieved for ferulic acid content
and TPC in ZP515su. Content of ferulic and cinnamic acid negatively correlated with the
maize yield, opposite to TPC, for hybrid ZP355su. Positive correlation of TPC and cinnamic
acid to maize yield was found in hybrid ZP515su emphasizing it as promising hybrid among
all tested hybrids. Although relatively small number of hybrids was examined, the obtained
data revealed a new potential of herbicide, i.e. the enrichment of health promoting
compounds in sweet maize grain
