Alpha-tocopherol fertigation confers growth physio-biochemical and qualitative yield enhancement in field grown water deficit wheat (Triticum aestivum L.)

Abstract

Water stress is a major problem to fulfill the world food demand and to solve the problem of malnutrition. Different strategies are being used to solve these problems including the fertigation of plants with different biochemical at different growth stages. The present study was conducted for the induction of drought tolerance in field grown wheat for better yield and nutritional quality through foliar spray of α-tocopherol (α-Toc) at start of reproductive stage. Water stress was maintained based on number of irrigation. Three levels of α-Toc 0.001, 0.01 and 0.1 mM were applied as foliar spray. Water stress significantly reduced the biomass production that associated with the decreased photosynthetic pigments, water relation, photosynthetic efficiency, but increased the lipid peroxidation, leaf relative membrane permeability, activities of antioxidant enzymes and the contents of phenolic, flavonoids, α-toc and ASA. Water stress also negatively effected the different yield attributes and seed nutrient quality. Foliar fertigation of wheat plants with α-Toc significantly improved the water stress tolerance of wheat plants in term of improvement in growth and seed yield associated with improved water relations, photosynthetic efficiency, contents of photosynthetic pigments and improvement in antioxidative defence mechanism (enzymatic and non-enzymatic antioxidants). Fertigation of water stressed wheat plants with α-Toc also improved the seed nutritional quality in terms of the contents of seed phenolics, flavonoids, activities of antioxidant enzymes and the content of α-, β- and γ-tocopherols. In conclusion, it was found that fertigation of water stressed wheat plants not only improved the water stress tolerance but also improved the seed yield and nutritional quality that will not only be helpful for the improvement in wheat yield that also be a step to solve the problem of malnutrition through the bio-fertification of α-Toc.

Foliar Spray of Fe-Asp Confers Better Drought Tolerance in Sunflower as Compared with FeSO4: Yield Traits, Osmotic Adjustment, and Antioxidative Defense Mechanisms

“…In the present study, the limited irrigation adversely affected growth and yield of sunflower plants. Previous studies revealed that the final production depends on the biomass status of the plants [8]. Similar is in the present findings where exogenous application of FeSO 4 and Fe-Asp, when applied foliary, significantly improved the plant growth and yield, being more improvement in sunflower plants foliary fertigated with Fe-Asp in comparison to FeSO 4 .…”

“…The foliary-applied Fe sources improved the oxidative stress tolerance of sunflower plants when grown under limited water supply by increasing the activities of antioxidative enzymes such as APX, POD, SOD CAT, and the accumulation of non-enzymatic components such as TPC, TFC, AsA, and tocopherols. This improvement in the antioxidant components is due to the foliar application of FeSO 4 and Fe-Asp that correlate well with the lowered MDA and H 2 O 2 contents, showing less damage to cellular membranes [8,93,94].…”

“…The better cellular amino acid accumulation and mineral nutrients correspond well to improved biomass production and better seed yield in association with the maintenance of better water relation. Furthermore, previous studies revealed that plants have the ability to translocate foliary supplied organic compounds to different tissues which enhances the accumulation of organic compounds [8]. These organic compounds also boost up their own biosynthesis by regulating their metabolism.…”

“…However, most of the high yielding crop varieties are not drought-tolerant and do not have efficient mechanisms to tolerate such environmental conditions. To better produce such high yielding genotypes, different techniques have been employed, including the use of better agronomic practices, molecular genetic markers, and exogenous application of organic and inorganic chemicals [8][9][10]. The foremost impact of water shortage is the reduction of nutrient uptake from soil, as the low amount of water in soil reduces nutrient uptake due to the reduced replenishment of nutrients in soil medium as a result disturbed ion homeostasis at cellular levels [1,11,12].…”

Use of Nitric Oxide and Hydrogen Peroxide for Better Yield of Wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) under Water Deficit Conditions: Growth, Osmoregulation, and Antioxidative Defense Mechanism

“…If the amount of antioxidants is reduced in response to stressful conditions, then the oxidative damages caused to the photosynthetic machinery result in ultimate cell death [10]. Among non-enzymatic components, carotenoids, ascorbic acid (AsA), and phenolics are considered as the most important ones among others due to their antioxidative and biological characteristics [11,12]. The contribution of ascorbic acid in the cellular antioxidative defense mechanism [7] has been described in the Halliwell-Asada pathway in detail.…”