Characteristics of winter spelt wheat (Triticum spelta L.) breeding lines in the eastern forest-steppe of Ukraine

Abstract

Purpose and Objectives. The aim of our work was to characterize winter spelt lines selected from spelt/bread wheat hybrid combinations by major economically valuable parameters.
 Materials and Methods. Winter spelt (T. spelta) lines derived from crossing NSS 1/02 T. spelta var. duhamelianum line (Serbia) with Oktava T. aestivum variety (Ukraine) at the National Center for Plant Genetic Resources of Ukraine of the Plant Production Institute named after V.Y. Yuriev (PPI) of NAAS of Ukraine were studied. Plants were grown on the experimental farm Elite of the PPI NAAS of Ukraine (Kharkivska Oblast) in 2019-2022. The accessions were sown in plots of 10 m2 of preliminary and competitive trials in four replications within the optimal timeframe. Plants were analyzed for morphological parameters, performance constituents and grain quality. For structural analysis, plants were taken from an area of 0.25 m2 and 20 spikes were analyzed in detail. Studying the spelt lines, we took the following accessions as the check varieties: Yevropa winter spelt variety; Podolianka and Bunchuk winter bread wheat varieties (national standards), Harmonika and Doskonala bred at the PPI NAAS.
 Results and Discussion. The spelt lines were characterized by high winter hardiness, high resistance to powdery mildew and tan rot pathogens (8-9 points), and medium resistance to Septoria (5-6.4 points). They started spring growth more slowly than winter bread wheat. They came into ear simultaneously with Yevropa spelt and Podolianka bread wheat. Plants of the spelt lines were as tall as or slightly shorter than Yevropa plants (check variety). Our observations showed that spelt stems were quite strong and resistant to lodging, despite their length. The tillering coefficient of the spelt lines ranged 1.69 to 1.80, with the mean exceeding Yevropa’s value (1.31), but was lower in comparison with the winter bread wheat varieties. Spikes of the spelt lines were white, loose and awnless. In terms of the spike length and the number of spikelets in the main spike, the spelt lines were inferior to both Yevropa and bread wheat varieties. Spelt kernels were elongated, plump and resembled Doskonala and Podolianka kernels. As to the kernel weight from the main spike, the spelt lines were slightly inferior to Yevropa, Harmonika and Doskonala, but not inferior to Bunchuk and Podolianka (national standards). The  thousand kernel weight was high, ranging 47.31 g to 50.44 g. In terms of yield, the spelt lines outperformed the check bread wheat varieties on average by 0.50 t/ha. 1140-16 T. spelta line was most productive, yielding by 0.82 t/ha more than Yevropa and by 0.40 t/ha more than the check winter bread wheat varieties, which was possible due to easy threshing of the accessions. As to quality indicators (protein content in grain, gluten content in flour), the spelt lines were similar to Yevropa and bested the bread wheat varieties, but their sedimentation index was worse than that in the bread wheat varieties.
 Conclusions. The “NSS 1/02 T. spelta var. duhamelianum line (Serbia) / Oktava T. aestivum variety (Ukraine)” turned out to be a promising combination for breeding improvement of winter spelt in terms of yield, winter hardiness and grain quality in the Eastern Forest-Steppe of Ukraine.