Effect of yellow berry on yield and protein composition of spring wheat (Triticum aestivum L.)

Abstract

Yellow berry is a physiological condition in wheat which is associated with nitrogen stress. Results from an experiment where some treatments resulted in unusually large percentages of yellow berry kernels indicated a negative relationship between the incidence of yellow berry and both grain protein content and yield. The occurence of yellow berry, however, was more related to variation in grain protein content (r ²= 65.68%) than variation in yield (r ²= 18.0%). Chemical analysis of the kernels showed that the proportion of storage proteins (gliadin and glutenin) responsible for good baking quality was remarkably low in yellowish grains, when compared to normal kernels. In contrast to this, the proportion of cytoplasmic proteins (albumin and globulin) was reduced to a far lesser extent.