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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Nutr.
Sec. Nutrition and Food Science Technology
Volume 12 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fnut.2025.1559537
Enhancing Micronutrient Bioavailability in Wheat Grain through Organic Fertilizer Substitution
Provisionally accepted
Yafei Wang 1 Ronghui Ma 2
Jianlin Wei 3,4,5 Xiaoyan Fu 2 Shanshan Zhang 2
Zichao Zhao 3,4,5 Haitao Lin 3,4,5 Yu Xu 3,4,5
Deshui Tan 3,4,5 Xibao Gao 1*
Yumin Liu 3,4,5*- 1 Department of Physical and Chemical Inspection, School of Public Health, Cheeloo College of Medicine, Shandong University, Jinan, China
- 2 Shandong Agricultural Technology Extension Center, Jinan, China
- 3 Institute of Agricultural Resources and Environment, Shandong Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Jinan, China
- 4 Key Laboratory of Agro-Environment of Huang-Huai-Hai Plain, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Jinan, China
- 5 State Key Laboratory of Nutrient Use and Management, Jinan, China
The effect of organic fertilizer substitution (OFS) on crop micronutrients often varies due to differences in environmental conditions, soil types, and nutrient status.This study aims to evaluate the effects of OFS on wheat grain micronutrients and bioavailability across five sites in Shandong Province from 2021 to 2022. All experimental sites included five common treatments: control, traditional farming, optimized practices, and 15 and 30% OFS for chemical nitrogen. The results revealed regional variation in wheat yield; the average wheat yield was 9.06 Mg ha⁻¹, and the highest yield was 9.58 Mg ha⁻¹ in the 15%OF treatment. No significant differences in soil micronutrient availability were observed. Compared to the control, the OFS treatments exhibited significant increases in grain Fe (24.69%) and Zn (19.19%) contents. The OFS treatments significantly increased Fe and Zn bioavailability by reducing the PA/Fe and PA/Zn molar ratios. Organic fertilizer substitution also increased micronutrient nutritional yields and reduced the current health burden of Fe and Zn. Under the pessimistic scenario, the OFS treatment reduced health burdens of Zn and Fe deficiencies by 2.38 and 1.31%, respectively, whereas these mitigation efficiencies substantially increased to 7.15 and 3.94% under the optimistic scenario. In conclusion, OFS improved the content and bioavailability of Fe and Zn without affecting yield, which enhanced the nutritional quality of these nutrients, and alleviate the health burden of Fe and Zn deficiency. The findings demonstrate that a 15% organic fertilizer substitution (OFS) optimally enhances wheat grain Fe and Zn bioavailability and nutritional quality while maintaining crop yield, offering region-specific evidence for sustainable agricultural practices to mitigate micronutrient deficiencies and improve human health outcomes.
Keywords: Organic fertilizer substitution, Micronutrients, wheat, bioavailability, Nutritional yield, DALYs
Received: 13 Jan 2025; Accepted: 03 Apr 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Wang, Ma, Wei, Fu, Zhang, Zhao, Lin, Xu, Tan, Gao and Liu. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence:
Xibao Gao, Department of Physical and Chemical Inspection, School of Public Health, Cheeloo College of Medicine, Shandong University, Jinan, China
Yumin Liu, Institute of Agricultural Resources and Environment, Shandong Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Jinan, China
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