Abstract:To explore the effects of sulfur(S) fertilizer application on plant growth and development and ear edible quality of fresh-eating maize in black soil farmland, field experiments were conducted using sweet maize‘Cuiwang’(CW) and waxy maize‘Wannuo 2000’(WN2000) as materials. The effects of S fertilizer application on agronomic traits, yield, and ear edible quality of two types of fresh-eating maize were compared and evaluated. Under S fertilizer treatment, compared with CK, the plant height and fresh biomass of WN2000 increased by 9.46% and 21.61%, respectively, and the fresh biomass of CW increased by 28.90%. In terms of ear edible quality, the seed coat thickness of WN2000 decreased by 21.80%. Although no significant difference in seed coat residue rate was observed between the two varieties under S fertilizer and CK treatments, the values under S fertilizer treatment were slightly higher than those under CK treatment. In terms of soluble solids content(°Brix), the CW variety increased by 40.12% and WN2000 increased by 56.05% compared with CK. The yields of WN2000 and CW increased by 39.3% and 11.7%, respectively, compared with the CK treatment. Correlation analysis showed that ear diameter and marketable ear rate showed significant positive correlations with fresh maize ear yield. In conclusion, S fertilizer application can optimize agronomic traits, enhance ear edible quality, and increase yield of fresh-eating waxy maize and sweet maize to varying degrees, providing a reference for quality improvement and efficiency enhancement in regional fresh-eating maize cultivation and industry development.