Mucilage provides benefits for plant growth by maintaining the rhizosphere's water content during soil drying. The aerial root of maize (Zea mays L.) releases a significant amount mucilage to the rhizosphere. However, scarce information is available on quantitative and qualitative differences between the root exudation profile of the landrace and hybrid maize.

In this study, we find that mucilage production in the landrace is significantly different. The mucilage ability to store water potentially makes the landrace less vulnerable to drought. The variations of mucilage production in Maize cultivar would be significant for further analysis of crop adaptation to environmental stress.