The Effect of Drought Stress Treatment on Some Grain Quality Traits in Wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) Varieties

Climate change imposes many environmental stresses out of which drought stress is a major concern that significantly restricts crop production in arid and semi-arid regions. The negative impact on grain quality caused by drought stress is responsible for reduced grain yield and quality. Many previous studies aimed to understand the tolerance level of wheat varieties, but studies on grain quality traits assessment were less. Therefore, the aim of the present investigation was to study some grain quality traits and to determine how drought stress affected these parameters. Experiments with two wheat varieties viz. WH 1105 and WH 1025 were conducted in microplots with RBD design in open fields. Grains were selected after harvest of the crop and were used to evaluate sedimentation value, β carotene, crude fibre, total sugars and starch. Sedimentation values (ml) were increased more in WH 1025 (6.9 per cent) than WH 1105 (3.8 per cent). Beta carotene content (µg g-1 DW), crude fibre (%), total sugar (%) and starch (%) contents were decreased in both wheat varieties and more decrease was observed in WH 1105 than WH 1025 under drought condition than irrigated condition. The study revealed that quality traits of WH 1105 were much affected than WH 1025 under drought stress.