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Responses of physiological parameters, grain yield, and grain quality to foliar application of potassium nitrate in two contrasting winter wheat cultivars under salinity stress
Author(s) -
Zheng Yanhai,
Xu Xianbin,
Simmons Matthew,
Zhang Chao,
Gao Fengju,
Li Zengjia
Publication year - 2010
Publication title -
journal of plant nutrition and soil science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.644
H-Index - 87
eISSN - 1522-2624
pISSN - 1436-8730
DOI - 10.1002/jpln.200900313
Subject(s) - cultivar , distilled water , salinity , chemistry , potassium nitrate , agronomy , horticulture , potassium , biology , ecology , organic chemistry , chromatography
An experiment was conducted to test whether foliar application of KNO 3 on wheat in the heading stage could reduce salinity‐induced injuries, produce high grain yield, and improve grain quality. Salt‐resistant DK961 and salt‐sensitive JN17 wheat cultivars under 0 or 100 mM–NaCl conditions were foliarly watered with distilled water or a 10 mM–KNO 3 solution. The four treatments included: T 1 (CK 1 ), 0 mM NaCl + distilled water; T 2 , 0 mM NaCl + 10 mM KNO 3 ; T 3 (CK 2 ), 100 mM NaCl + distilled water; T 4 , 100 mM NaCl + 10 mM KNO 3 . The results indicate that there were no differences ( p > 0.05) in plant growth, grain yield, and grain quality between T 2 and T 1 in both cultivars, but these response variables were significantly lower in T 3 than in T 1 . K + : Na + ratio, chlorophyll content, photosynthetic capacity, grain yield, flour yield, water absorbance, ash content, dough‐development time and dough‐stability time were significantly higher in T 4 than in T 3 , while protein concentration, wet‐gluten concentration, and antioxidant enzyme activities were lower. Although foliar application of KNO 3 on JN17 enhanced plant growth, grain yield, and grain quality, these parameters were still lower in T 4 than in T 1 . Our findings suggest that cultivating the salt‐resistant wheat cultivar combined with foliar application of KNO 3 at heading stage may alleviate salinity injuries and produce higher grain yield and better grain quality under saline conditions.