Spectroscopic Kernel Quality from a Symbiotic Corn Production

Annamaria Ardigò,Silvia Volpato,Giusto Giovannetti,Sabrina Locatelli,Chiara Lanzanova,Carlotta Balconi,Gianfranco Mazzinelli,Giorgio Masoero,Abubaker Haroun Mohamed Adam,Marco Nuti

doi:10.14302/issn.2639-3166.jar-20-3260

Annamaria Ardigò, Silvia Volpato + Show 8 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.14302/issn.2639-3166.jar-20-3260

Copy DOI

Abstract

The management of the inoculation of a plant’s roots, by means of biofertilizers (BF) containing arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi, is aimed at inducing modifications of the quality of the seeds. It is here shown that a seed-soil treatment can be elicited in the fingerprints of a symbiotic treatment using Near Infra Red (NIR)-SCiO NIR-SCiO spectra collections of single kernels: overall, a sensitivity of 73% and a specificity of 73% have been achieved, thus suggesting that it may be possible to assign the symbiotic origin of corn from just twenty kernels, provided that the dataset is adequately representative of the cultivar and AM. A global correlation study has shown a positive general trend (R2 0.45) of quality vs. quantity, in the sense that an increase in yield corresponded to an increase in the spectral differences between the symbiotic spectra and the control ones, but the inverse was also true, as a result of the parasitic behaviour of the BF treatments. The efficacy of the symbiosis can be back predicted from the NIR spectra; in fact, around 90% of the positive yield outcome results were discriminated from the negative ones. A reduction in the foliar pH (R2 0.37) and an increase in the foliar protein (R2 0.43) were observed as immediate phenotypic signs of a productive symbiosis. The commercial raw composition of the kernels appeared to only be affected slightly by the BF treatments; thus, till now uncharted secondary compounds of the maize kernels are involved, as supported by animal performances.

Highlights

Symbiotic Agriculture (SA) is a cultivation method that systematically integrates the use of biofertilizers in the management of all rotating crops
The brilliant values obtained in the reverberant chamber should be noted, especially compared to the average Near Infra Red (NIR) spectra of the leaves
The fingerprinting of the Control and Symbiotic types produced the same value of 73% for the whole collection of kernel spectra (Table 4, r. 2), but only when Micosat F was used

Summary

Introduction

Symbiotic Agriculture (SA) is a cultivation method that systematically integrates the use of biofertilizers in the management of all rotating crops. Biofertilizers with Arbuscolar Mycorrhizal fungi (AM) have important biological effects on colonized plants, as they improve the nutrient absorption, as regard the phosphorus bound in agrarian soils[1], with a consequent stimulating effect on plant growth, and an enhancement of their resistance (a)biotic stresses[2]. Klironomos[3] compared local and exotic species with both local and exotic mycorrhizal fungi and noted how plant growth responses to inoculation can range from highly mutualistic to parasitic: no single species of plants did better with all the tested AM fungi. It is necessary that soil has a hospitable attitude toward new microbial agents: if the organic substance is deficient, or the microflora is too aggressive, it becomes difficult for the minimal doses of bio-fertilizer, which are precisely inoculated near the roots, to be hosted, multiplied and spread. A mycelial network may arise and expand, thereby connecting a high density corn plantation -up to 6 m-2- whose roots prevent any mutual contact rsulting from allelopathy

Methods

Results

Discussion

Conclusion