Zinc biofortification potential of diverse mungbean [Vigna radiata (L.) Wilczek] genotypes under field conditions

Abstract

Zinc (Zn) is an important micronutrient for crop plants and essential for human health. The Zn-deficiency is an important malnutrition problem known globally. Biofortified foods could overcome Zn deficiency in humans. Mungbean [Vigna radiata (L.) Wilczek] is an important, pulse crop frequently grown in arid and semi-arid regions of the world. Mungbean could provide essential micronutrients, including Zn to humans. Therefore, it is very important to investigate the impact of Zn fertilization on the yield and grain biofortification of mungbean. Twelve mungbean genotypes (i.e., NM-28, NM-2011, NM-13-1, NM-2006, NM-51, NM-54, NM-19-19, NM-92, NM-121-25, NM-20-21, 7006, 7008) were assessed for their genetic diversity followed by Zn-biofortification, growth and yield under control (0 kg ha-1) and Zn-fertilized (10 kg ha-1) conditions. Data relating to allometric traits, yield components, grain yield and grain Zn contents were recorded. Zinc fertilization improved entire allometric and yield-related traits. Grain yield of different genotypes ranged from 439 to 904 kg ha-1 under control and 536 to 1462 kg ha-1 under Zn-fertilization. Zinc concentration in the grains varied from 15.50 to 45.60 mg kg-1 under control and 18.53 to 64.23 mg kg-1 under Zn-fertilized conditions. The tested genotypes differed in their Zn-biofortification potential. The highest and the lowest grain Zn contents were noted for genotypes NM-28 and NM-121-25, respectively. Significant variation in yield and Zn-biofortification indicated the potential for improvement in mungbean yield and grain Zn-biofortification. The genotypes NM-28 and NM-2006 could be used in breeding programs for improvement in grain Zn concentration due to their high Zn uptake potential. Nonetheless, all available genotypes in the country should be screened for their Zn-biofortification potential.

Biochar and Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi mediated enhanced drought tolerance in Okra (Abelmoschus esculentus) plant growth, root morphological traits and physiological properties

“… Maes et al (2009) reported that Jatropha curcas under different water regimes identified anatomical and morphological changes with an increase in adaxial stomatal ratio in response to drought. Drought negatively affects yield in different crops such as okra ( Mueller et al, 2019 , Chaturvedi et al, 2019 , Ranawake et al, 2012 , Haider et al, 2021 ), faba bean ( Li et al, 2018 ) and chickpea ( Pushpavalli et al, 2015 ). The impact of drought stress was studied on plant growth and yield of okra plant by Abdulrahman and Nadir (2018) .…”

Soil-Applied Boron Combined with Boron-Tolerant Bacteria (Bacillus sp. MN54) Improve Root Proliferation and Nodulation, Yield and Agronomic Grain Biofortification of Chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.)

“…The crops produced in these soils accumulate lower amounts of essential nutrients; thus, human populations fed with the products of these crops face nutrient deficiencies. Several studies have indicated that the application of micronutrients either in the soil or as foliar and exploitation of soil microbes for solubilizing micronutrients have increased crop yield and concentration of micronutrients in harvested plant parts [33,34]. Therefore, chickpeas produced on calcareous soils in arid and semi-arid regions of Pakistan must be enriched with B for higher productivity and essential nutrients' accumulation in grains.…”

“…Soil-applied iron (Fe) can potentially mitigate the Fe malnutrition problem of mungbean in Pakistan by improving the grain-Fe concentration and bioavailability [39]. Similarly, recent studies have reported that zinc (Zn) application through various methods have improved the yield and grain biofortification of mungbean [34,40,41]. A recent study has reported that seed coating [42] and seed priming [43] with B combined with B-tolerant bacteria (BTB) have improved chickpea yield under semi-arid conditions of Pakistan.…”

Zinc Fortification: Current Trends and Strategies

“…Compared with post-harvest fortification, the lack of a need for special processing reduces the cost of biofortification after the initial crop development. Recent crops targeted for zinc biofortification include wheat [ 36 , 79 , 80 ], rice [ 60 , 81 , 82 ], maize [ 27 , 83 ], pearl millet [ 25 , 84 ], beans [ 43 , 85 ], and bananas [ 86 ].…”