Harvesting more grain zinc of wheat for human health

• Main Authors: Xin-Ping Chen, Yue-Qiang Zhang, Yi-Ping Tong, Yan-Fang Xue, Dun-Yi Liu, Wei Zhang, Yan Deng, Qing-Feng Meng, Shan-Chao Yue, Peng Yan, Zhen-Ling Cui, Xiao-Jun Shi, Shi-Wei Guo, Yi-Xiang Sun, You-Liang Ye, Zhao-Hui Wang, Liang-Liang Jia, Wen-Qi Ma, Ming-Rong He, Xi-Ying Zhang, Chang-Lin Kou, Yan-Ting Li, De-Shui Tan, Ismail Cakmak, Fu-Suo Zhang, Chun-Qin Zou
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Nature Publishing Group 2017-08-01
• Series: Scientific Reports
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-017-07484-2

Abstract Increasing grain zinc (Zn) concentration of cereals for minimizing Zn malnutrition in two billion people represents an important global humanitarian challenge. Grain Zn in field-grown wheat at the global scale ranges from 20.4 to 30.5 mg kg−1, showing a solid gap to the biofortification target for human health (40 mg kg−1). Through a group of field experiments, we found that the low grain Zn was not closely linked to historical replacements of varieties during the Green Revolution, but greatly aggravated by phosphorus (P) overuse or insufficient nitrogen (N) application. We also conducted a total of 320-pair plots field experiments and found an average increase of 10.5 mg kg−1 by foliar Zn application. We conclude that an integrated strategy, including not only Zn-responsive genotypes, but of a similar importance, Zn application and field N and P management, are required to harvest more grain Zn and meanwhile ensure better yield in wheat-dominant areas.