Biochemical properties of winter wheat (Triticum vulgare L.) under Zn and Cu balance in the soil-culture system

Abstract

The role of trace elements as a factor in the formation of biochemical features of grain crops is a debatable and extremely understudied issue. At the same time, the ecological importance of the balance of nutritional elements for the normal functioning of plants is widely highlighted in biology and agronomy. The purpose of the study was to determine the interdependence of biochemical and biogeochemical features and to determine the influence of the biogeochemical balance of Zn and Cu on the biochemical parameters of wheat in various agrolandscapes of the forest-steppe of Ukraine. We has been developed an original method of regional spatial correlation between the balance of micronutrients in the soil-crop system and biochemical indicators of the quality of plant products. Spatial correlation was implemented in wheat growing areas in two agrolandscapes, namely, with dark gray podzolized soils in the Kyiv region and gray podzolized soils in the Vinnytsia region. Regional features of the distribution of Zn and Cu in the agricultural landscape are summarized by their biogeochemical formulas, which highlight 5 evaluation characteristics of the soil-culture system in subsoil rocks, soils, and grain crops. Features of the quality of wheat in the territory of agrolandscapes are determined by statistical data on the content of protein, gluten, and vitreousness. The result of the spatial correlation of the specified characteristics is the determination of the interdependencies of the biochemical parameters of the nutritional quality of wheat and the balance of Zn, Cu in the investigated agrolandscapes. The determined differences between the features of the links of the biogeochemical chains of zinc and copper indicate the possibility of a decrease in the vitreousness and protein in wheat grains as a result of the lack of this nutrient microelement, even under the conditions of their natural and agrogenic accumulation in the soil. The inconsistency of the processes in the soil and the agrocenosis of the agrolandscape indicates the expediency of changes in soil protection and agrochemical melioration systems. Special attention needs to be paid to research on foliar nutrition of wheat culture, as a factor in increasing the biophilicity of nutrient microelements and the corresponding increase in the protein content and vitrification of wheat grain.