Polyamines putatively affect tolerance to abiotic stresses and are believed to be important in
organogenesis. Present experiments investigate the relationship between polyamines (PAs) and seed
quality. Therefore, during seed development, the changes in free putrescine (Put), spermidine (Spd) and
spermine (Spm) and physiological and biochemical parameters in F1 seeds of sh2 sweet corn were
compared. Concentrations of Put, Spd and Spm increased from 14 to 30 days after pollination (DAP). After
30 DAP Put concentration declined with an opposite trend to that of Spd and Spm. The regression
analysis between PAs and seed quality described by physiological and biochemical parameters including
germination percentage, germination energy, germination index, seed size, seed fresh and dry weight,
total soluble sugar, total soluble protein, Malondialdehyde (MDA) concentration, electrolyte leakage,
peroxidase (POD) and catalase (CAT) activity were conducted. Spd was observed to have a closer relation
with the comprehensive physiological changes of seeds during their development than that of Put and
Spm. Moreover, the Spm concentration might be more suitable to forecast seed germinability during
seed maturation period than Spd and Put. It indicated that endogenous Spd and Spm in dissociated form
had more effect than Put during seed development progress of sweet corn.