Effect of drought stress on grain quality of wheat and its mitigation through arbuscular mycorrhiza fungi

Aim: Grain quality is an important aspect to ensure food and nutritional security of the ever-increasing population of the world, and maintaining wheat grain quality under stressful conditions is decisive for end-use functional properties. Therefore, this study was carried out to evaluate the potential of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi in improving grain quality under stress condition. Methodology: The present study was conducted on two wheat varieties viz. Drought tolerance (WH 1105) and drought sensitive (WH 1025) under drought stress condition. This experiment was conducted in CRD factorial design and drought stress was imposed by withholding irrigation before jointing (40-45 days) and heading (80-85 days) stages. Results: Drought stress imposed at either jointing or heading stage deteriorated all quality traits except for crude protein content and gluten content. Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi inoculation played a significant role in enhancing the ash, moisture, crude protein, gluten, total sugar and and β-carotene contents in both varieties, however, the interactive effects were found non-significant. Crude protein, which defines nutritional properties increased by 14.6 and 15.9% in WH 1025 grains and 13.9 and 14.9% in WH 1105 grains of AMF untreated and treated plants at heading stage. In both wheat varieties, sedimentation value and grain hardiness were observed higher at heading stage as compared to the jointing stage, irrespective of AMF inoculation. Interpretation: AMF inoculation played a significant role in improving quality traits by enhancing water relations and nutrient uptake under drought conditions. Key words: Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi, Drought, Grain quality, Wheat