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Fructan to nitrogen ratio as an indicator of nutrient stress in wheat crops
Author(s) -
McGRATH V. B.,
BLAKENEY A. B.,
BATTEN G. D.
Publication year - 1997
Publication title -
new phytologist
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.742
H-Index - 244
eISSN - 1469-8137
pISSN - 0028-646X
DOI - 10.1046/j.1469-8137.1997.00712.x
Subject(s) - fructan , crop , nitrogen , nutrient , agronomy , limiting , biology , nitrogen deficiency , environmental science , food science , chemistry , sucrose , ecology , organic chemistry , mechanical engineering , engineering
Wheat stems serve as a store for fructans to buffer the plant against nutritional and environmental influences. It has been suggested that fructan storage influences yield stability and tolerance of environmental factors. Near infra‐red spectroscopy (NIR) analysis provides a rapid and accurate assessment of the fructan content of the wheat stem, as well as allowing detection of growth‐limiting nutrient stresses, and so is proving to be a useful technique for making crop management decisions. Commercial laboratories using NIR analysis have been tissue‐testing crops in the eastern Australian wheat belt since 1993. In healthy, normally developing crops not under stress there is a predictable relationship between nitrogen and fructan. Investigation of the nitrogen and fructan concentrations in commercial crops has confirmed an inverse relationship between these two constituents. The function: Fructan (%)= a + b N%+ c N% 2 accounted for up to 81% of variation in tissue fructan concentration. In commercial tissue‐testing this relationship is used to detect crops under stresses other than nitrogen deficiency. If the fructan concentration deviates by more than 4%, cereal growers are advised that their crop might be subject to other stresses which might reduce its response to applied nitrogen.