Enhancing Wheat Gluten Content and Processing Quality: An Analysis of Drip Irrigation Nitrogen Frequency

Abstract

Drip irrigation is a water-saving and fertilizer-saving application technology used in recent years, with which the frequency of drip irrigation nitrogen application has not yet been determined. In order to investigate the effects of different drip irrigation nitrogen application frequencies on the processing quality of medium-gluten wheat (Jimai22) and strong-gluten wheat (Jimai20 and Shiluan02-1), a two-year field experiment was carried out. Two frequencies of water and N application were set under the same conditions of total N application (210 kg·ha−1) and total irrigation (120 mm): DIF4, consisting of four equal applications of water and N (each of 30 kg·ha−1 of N application and 30 mm of irrigation) and DIF2, consisting of two equal applications of water and N (each of 60 kg·ha−1 of N application and 60 mm of irrigation). The results showed that IF4 significantly increased protein content by 2–8.6%, wet gluten content by 4.5–22.1%, and hardness value (p > 0.05), and PC2 was considered as a protein factor; the sedimentation value was highly significantly correlated with most of the parameters of the flour stretch (p < 0.01). DIF4 improved the stretching quality, and the flour quality of Jima22 was decreased, the flour quality of strong-gluten wheats Jimai20 and Shiluan02-1 was improved, and PC1 was considered to be the dough factor. In conclusion, although the frequency of nitrogen application by drip irrigation increased the protein factor and improved the tensile quality, the flour quality was not necessarily enhanced.

The Quality of Winter Wheat Grain by Different Sowing Strategies and Nitrogen Fertilizer Rates: A Case Study in Northeastern Poland

“…Mor et al [159] reported that the sedimentation index was 3% higher when the N rate was split into five rather than two portions. In a study by Hao et al [156], the sedimentation index was 5% higher when the total N rate of 210 kg ha −1 was applied in four rather than two splits.…”

“…In the work of Zhong et al [155], grain hardness peaked in response to 60 kg N ha −1 applied in BBCH stage 17 or 31, and it was 8% lower when N fertilizer was applied in BBCH stage 37. Hao et al [156] found that grain hardness was reduced by around 10% when the total N rate of 210 kg ha −1 was split into two portions (applied at the beginning of stem elongation and during flowering) than when the same N rate was split into four portions (beginning of stem elongation, heading, flowering, and grain filling). In turn, Blandino et al [157] reported that the hardness of wheat grain was not affected when the total N rate of 130 kg ha −1 was applied in one split (BBCH stage 23) or in two splits (BBCH stages 23 and 32).…”