Grain phosphorus and phytate contents of wheat genotypes released during last 6 decades and categorization of selected genotypes for phosphorus use efficiency

ABSTRACT

Grain phosphorus (P) and phytate contents are important for early growth and quality of wheat, respectively. We studied seed P and phytate contents of 57 wheat genotypes released during last 6 decades. The grain total P and phytate P concentrations ranged from 2.0 to 8.9 mg g⁻¹ and 1.6 to 4.7 mg g⁻¹, respectively. Grain P was higher in genotypes released in current or last decade than pre-green revolution period and it correlated well with grain phytate contents. Indicating that breeders worked only for increased grain P and did not consider the phytate contents. Twenty-five genotypes were selected based on differences in grain P and phytate contents to observe the P use efficiency under field conditions. Genotypes differed significantly for grain P and yield at both 0 and 60 kg ha⁻¹ P levels. In conclusion, phytate fraction in grains of recent wheat genotypes was more as compared to old genotypes and genotype Inqlab-91 and Chakwal-86 had maximum grain total P. Moreover, number of productive tillers, spikelet per spike, grain weight, harvest index and grain P concentration and uptake were found responsible for P tolerance under P deficiency.

KEYWORDS:

• Phytate
• genotype
• breeding scheme
• genetic pool
• green revolution
• correlation

Acknowledgments

The authors highly acknowledge the financial help from Higher Education Commission and University of Agriculture, Faisalabad for the experiments. Thanks also due to the Director, Wheat Research Institute, Ayub Agriculture Research Institute, Faisalabad for provision of the seeds.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.