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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Plant Sci.
Sec. Crop and Product Physiology
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fpls.2025.1543407
This article is part of the Research Topic Elucidating the Molecular, Physiological, and Biochemical Mechanisms Underlying Stress Responses in Crop Plants View all 10 articles
Effects of nitrogen application rate and weak light post anthesis on the grain yield and starch physicochemical properties of soft wheat
Provisionally accepted- Anhui Science and Technology University, Anhui, China
This study examined the effects of nitrogen (N) application rates and weak light treatment post anthesis on the grain yield and starch physicochemical characteristics of soft wheat.The effects of weak light treatment post anthesis on the grain yield and yield components of soft wheat were analysed. Moreover, the mitigation effects of different N application rates on the grain yield and starch physicochemical characteristics of wheat were examined. The results showed that N application increased wheat yield and yield components as well as the content of starch and its components, whereas weak light treatment decreased these parameters under the same N application rate. Under N1 and N2 conditions, weak light treatment post anthesis significantly reduced the volume, surface area percentage and number of B-type starch granules (particle size ≤10 μm) and increased those of A-type starch granules (particle size >10 μm). Enhanced N application rates significantly improved the gelatinisation characteristics and thermodynamic characteristics of wheat starch. Under the same conditions of N1 and N2, weak light treatment significantly reduced the gelatinisation characteristics of wheat starch, such as peak viscosity, trough viscosity and final viscosity. Although the enthalpy of wheat starch was increased, its onset temperature, peak temperature and end temperature were significantly reduced, which affected the quality of wheat grains and eventually led to a decrease in wheat yield. However, enhanced N application rates increased the grain yield and starch physicochemical characteristics of wheat. Under the same N application rate, weak light treatment post anthesis reduced the content of starch and its components in wheat grains, which in turn affected the wheat grain weight. The effect was more pronounced in wheat B-type starch granules than in A-type starch granules.
Keywords: Nitrogen application rate, Weak light, Soft wheat, yield, Starch content, Starch physicochemical properties
Received: 11 Dec 2024; Accepted: 24 Feb 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Yang, Rehman, Yan, Chen, Li, Zhang and Li. 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:
Xiao Zhang, Anhui Science and Technology University, Anhui, China
yang Wen Li, Anhui Science and Technology University, Anhui, China
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