Biofortification implications of ancient wheats for micronutrient-deficient diets: evidence from grain quality attributes under different zinc and salinity conditions
摘要
Ancient wheats are valuable genetic resources requiring knowledge on their quality and agronomic responses to micronutrients in the presence of salt stress. Hence, two field studies were conducted in 2018–2020 to unravel the behavior of emmer and spelt wheats upon exposure to saline (0 and 150 mM NaCl) water and foliar-applied Zn (0 and 4 g L−1 ZnSO4·7H2O). These wheats indicated smaller grain yield compared to standard durum and bread wheats (2085–3118 vs. 6560 kg ha−1). However, emmer and in a lesser extent spelt wheats out-ranked the standard durum and bread wheats in terms of grain Zn and protein concentrations, hardness, gluten index, sodium dodecyl sulfate sedimentation volume, and Rapid Mix Test. Salt led to suppression of plant above-ground dry mass and grain yield (4923 vs. 3764 kg ha−1), but tended to affect the grain hardness, Rapid Mix Test, and sodium dodecyl sulfate sedimentation volume in a genotype-specific manner. Emmer wheats suffered less from the salt, as evidenced by smaller suppressions in above-ground dry mass and grain yield, compared to the bread and durum wheats. Zn-induced increase in the grain yield (4227 vs. 4456 kg ha−1) and above-ground dry mass was moderate. But, it substantially enhanced the grain Zn concentration, sodium dodecyl sulfate sedimentation volume, and Rapid Mix Test in most of the wheat genotypes. It may be concluded that emmer wheats are superior over the standard durum and bread wheats in terms of salt tolerance, grain protein, Zn, hardness, wet gluten, sodium dodecyl sulfate sedimentation volume, and Rapid Mix Test. These superiorities promise potentials for breeding and biofortifying bread and durum wheats toward tackling human dietary and micronutrients deficiencies under poor soil Zn and saline conditions.