Effects of genotype and sowing date on phytostanol–phytosterol content and agronomic traits in wheat under organic agriculture

Abstract

Cereals are an important source of sterols and stanols in the human diet. The present study underlines the effect of genotype and weather conditions in bread wheat, on total sterol and stanol content (TSS), agronomic traits, proteins and ash content under organic conditions. Variations in TSS as well as other characters between two sowing dates were observed. A broad genotypic variability was also reported since extreme genotypes differed by more than 30 mg 100. g -1 DW for TSS, with total stanol content varying twofold. Moreover, two groups of genotypes that differed in agronomic production, ash and protein content were depicted, based on their response to an increase in temperature. This result suggests that the genotypic factor prevails over the sowing date factor for determining sterol and stanol traits in wheat cultivated under organic conditions. Nevertheless, a strong interaction exists between the two factors, which can be used to drive bioaccumulation of these molecules.

Potential Soil Moisture Deficit: An Alternative Approach for Irrigation Scheduling in Wheat

“…Studies have shown that a wheat plant may stop its vegetative growth and shift towards its reproductive phase after reaching its photoperiodic requirement and that may result in shorter plant height in late sowing in Peshawar (Ahmad et al, 2005). Alignan et al (2009) reported an increase and a decrease in the number of grains per spike in wheat sown on 15 th November and delayed sowing respectively. Qasim et al (2008) documented highest grain number in crop sown on 15 th November followed by 30 th November and then 15 th December in Peshawar.…”

“…Inamullah et al (2007) in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa noted 19.72% decrease in grain weight due to delay in sowing of wheat because plant does not have sufficient time to increase grain weight due to shorter photoperiod and higher temperature. Alignan et al (2009) reported that agronomic traits of wheat responded differently planted at different sowing dates. Yield components decreased due to late sowing in Australia (Asseng and Milory, 2006;Spiertz et al, 2006) and decrease in grain yield can be related to the differences in weather conditions prevailing throughout the growing season particularly during grain formation (Coventry et al, 2011).…”

Determination of Main Plant Sterols in Turkish Bread Wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) by GC-MS

“…Reference values for each plant sterol and standard deviations (with a confidence interval of 95%) have reported in Table 5. Table 5 shows that concentration ranges of campesterol, stigmasterol and β-sitosterol in 20 Turkish bread wheat cultivars were compared with similar previously published (Clifton et al, 2004;RuibalMendieta et al, 2004;Alignan et al, 2009;Nurmi et al, 2012). Relative standard deviations (RSD) were acceptable (<6.1%).…”

“…Wheat is the most important food crop grown worldwide and one of the 'big three' cereal crops, with over 600 million ton being harvested annually (Valsta et al, 2004;Shewry, 2009). Bread wheat is an important source of plant sterols in the human diet (Alignan et al, 2009). Clifton et al (2004) and Valsta et al (2004) reported that even if the plant sterols level in cereals is lower than oilseeds, cereals remain the major source of natural plant sterols in the human diet due to the large amounts consumed daily.…”

“…Plant sterols play an essential role in the regulation of membrane fluidity and permeability by affecting the proteins associated to membranes (Breinholder et al, 2002). Moreover, they are precursors of brassinosteroids and are involved in embryogenesis (Alignan et al, 2009). Plant sterols and cholesterol are polycyclic steroid compounds with similar chemical structure (Johnsson et al, 2003;Lagarda et al, 2006;Dulf et al, 2009).…”