RESPIRATION AND CATALASE ACTIVITY IN SWEET CORN 20g 
Table I 
Catalase Activity in Sweet Corn 
Manometer Readings Expressed in Centimeters of Mercury 
Ear 
When Pulled in Milk Stage 
After Storage at 30"^ C. 
2 Days 
5 Days 
I 
4.0 
3.0 
2.0 
2 
4-3 
3.6 
3 
4.2 
3-6 
4 
3-8 
1.9 
5 
3-7 
1.2 
6 
3.8 
2.5 
7 
4.2 
2.6 
Average 
4.0 
2.05 
Summary 
Respiration in sweet corn in the milk stage is very high when the 
corn is first pulled. This high rate of respiratory activity falls off 
rapidly with storage. Catalase activity in a collateral set of ears 
showed a decline with storage which is almost directly proportional 
to the decline in respiratory intensity after a like period of storage. 
The catalase activity of the expressed juice from both sweet corn 
and potato tubers is a fair index of the comparative intensity of respira- 
tion in the tissues. 
The data from both plant and animal tissues available at present 
seem to justify the general induction that catalase action is invariably 
correlated with the oxidative processes involved in respiration. 
Laboratory of Plant Physiology, 
Maryland Agricultural Experiment Station 
