Abstract
Cereal yield and grain quality may be impaired by environmental factors associated with climate change. Major factors, including elevated CO2 concentration ([CO2]), elevated temperature, and drought stress, have been identified as affecting C3 crop production and quality. A meta-analysis of existing literature was performed to study the impact of these three environmental factors on the yield and nutritional traits of C3 cereals. Elevated [CO2] stimulates grain production (through larger grain numbers) and starch accumulation but negatively affects nutritional traits such as protein and mineral content. In contrast to [CO2], increased temperature and drought cause significant grain yield loss, with stronger effects observed from the latter. Elevated temperature decreases grain yield by decreasing the thousand grain weight (TGW). Nutritional quality is also negatively influenced by the changing climate, which will impact human health. Similar to drought, heat stress decreases starch content but increases grain protein and mineral concentrations. Despite the positive effect of elevated [CO2], increases to grain yield seem to be counterbalanced by heat and drought stress. Regarding grain nutritional value and within the three environmental factors, the increase in [CO2] is possibly the more detrimental to face because it will affect cereal quality independently of the region.
Highlights
Food security is threatened by the impacts of climate change on agriculture and by increasing the world population [1,2]
In contrast to elevated [CO2 ], we found that high temperatures increased the grain protein concentration by 10.4%, which could be attributed to greater remobilization of shoot-derived protein
More than 150 papers were found, but 78 articles were selected according to the following criteria: (i) the article studies the effect of at least one climate parameter, including [CO2 ], temperature, and drought, (ii) the article contains at least one response variable from the following list: grain yield, thousand grain weight (TGW), starch, total protein, gluten, glutenins, gliadins, and a set of minerals (Al, N, B, Ca, Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Fe, K, Mo, Mg, Mn, Na, Ni, P, Pb, S, Se, Si, and Zn)
Summary
Food security is threatened by the impacts of climate change on agriculture and by increasing the world population [1,2]. For the grain crops barley, rice, and wheat, the reduction in protein mediated by elevated [CO2 ] was reported to be 15, 10, and 10%, respectively [15] In their meta-analysis of the impact of elevated [CO2 ] on wheat grains, Broberg et al [12] found a significant reduction in the concentration of the majority of minerals (Ca, Cd, Cu, Fe, Mg, Mn, P, S, and Zn), while B and Na were not significantly affected, and K was significantly increased (
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
