Improving Grain Micronutrient Content of Durum Wheat (Triticum turgidum var. durum) through Agronomic Biofortification to Alleviate the Hidden Hunger

Abstract

Improvement of durum wheat grain quality through agronomic biofortification becomes a priority research area and an effective route to combat malnutrition. An experiment was conducted to evaluate the effect of micronutrient application to different varieties of durum wheat and seeding rate on final harvest grain quality under different growing locations. The treatments were arranged in split-split plot design where the varieties were assigned in the main plot, micronutrients into the subplots, and seeding rate into the sub-subplots. Each variety was sown at four levels of seeding rates and treated with ZnSO₄ and FeSO4 applied foliarly, both at a rate of 25 Kg ha−1 during flowering. Micronutrients were applied in the form of ZnSO₄ 7H2O and FeSO₄ 7H2O. The study confirmed that application of 25 Kg ha−1 ZnSO₄-containing fertilizer has increased mineral content from 33.04 mg Kg−1 to 56.73 mg kg−1. The tested durum wheat varieties significantly differ in their capacity to accumulate grain Zn and Fe concentrations. Higher amount of Zn (20 mg kg−1) and Fe (10 mg kg−1) were accumulated by the landrace 208304 than by Asassa, an improved commercial variety. Increasing seeding rate from 100–175 Kg ha−1 has reduced grain Zn and Fe concentrations. Grain mineral concentration was significantly lower at the Mekelle location than at the Melfa location. It can be concluded that foliar application of ZnSO₄ and FeSO4 to the landrace, acc.208304, combined with 125 Kg seeds ha−1 can produce better Zn and Fe denser durum wheat grain. This will help to combat the hidden hunger, especially in resource poor countries, where fortified foods are limited in access and unaffordable by small-scale farmers.

Nutritional and anti-nutritional potentials and variability among selected finger millet (Eleusine coracana subsp. coracana) landraces of Tigray, northern Ethiopia

“…Factors such as environmental conditions, soil nutrient availability, genetic variations, and other variables could all contribute to this variability [22,26,27]. The growing environment may have an impact on the uptake, translocation, and accumulation of mineral elements [12]. Similar to the current study, variability in mineral contents among different nger millet genotypes was reported in previous studies [21,23,28,29].…”

“…The contents of mineral elements in the nger millet landraces, including iron (Fe), zinc (Zn), manganese (Mn), copper (Cu), and chromium (Cr), were estimated using an atomic absorption spectrophotometer (Varian AA240FS) as described by Melash and Mengistu [12]. A dried seed sample of each landrace was ground to a ne powder, with 2 g of the powder placed in the ashing vessel and ashing was done at 550 o C. the resulting ash was then dissolved in a mixture of HCl-H 2 O (1:1) to complete the ashing process.…”

Sustainable management practices for durum wheat production: Analyzing specific agronomic interventions on productivity, grain micronutrient content, and quality

“…By understanding these allometric relationships, it may be possible to develop strategies that enhance both grain yield and nutritional quality, thereby meeting the future food and nutritional demands of a growing global population. In other studies, the foliar application of zinc sulfate has been widely acknowledged as an effective method for enhancing the mineral content of grains [ 12 , 13 ]. This implies that applying zinc sulfate to the leaves of durum wheat plants can be a beneficial approach to improve the mineral composition of the grains.…”

“…Integrated use of micronutrients coupled with optimum seeding rate and density-tolerant varieties has paramount importance to improve grain yield, protein content and grain micronutrient concentration, simultaneously [ 3 ]. This has been verified that the application of foliar-based zinc containing fertilizers (aka agronomic biofortification) during the crop growth period increases the grain mineral content [ 12 ], by about 3.04 mg kg −1 to 56.73 mg kg −1 of zinc [ 13 ]. Similarly, foliar application of iron containing fertilizers can be a practical approach to improving iron concentration, and quality in wheat grains [ 14 ].…”

Barriers and levers to enhance end-use functional properties of durum wheat (Triticum turgidum L.) grain: An agronomic implication

“…The grain end-use functional properties are strongly associated with the storage protein contents and composition, which can be influenced either by agronomic like technologies [ 6 , 90 , 91 ], and environmental factors [ 8 , 92 ]. It is a function of total nitrogen uptake and partitioning of nitrogen and dry matter into the grain [ 93 ].…”