MINERAL-COMPOSITION OF TRITICALE GRAINS AS RELATED TO GRAIN-YIELD AND GRAIN PROTEIN

Little has been published about the composition of mineral elements in triticale (x Triticoscale Wittm.) grains. Our study deals with the following questions: (i) How do increases In grain yield, resulting from growing triticale in more productive environments or growing more productive cultivars, affect the concentrations of minerals in the grains? (ii) Do genotypes exist whose grains are exceptionally high or low in minerals? (iii) To what extent are the concentrations of protein and minerals related? To answer these questions, 10 hexaploid winter triticale lines/cultivars were grown at three locations in western Switzerland for 2 yr. Whole grains were analyzed for protein (N x 5.7), P, K, Mg, Ca, Fe, Mn, Zn, and Cu. With the exception of Mn and Zn, the variation in mineral element concentrations among lines/cultivars was as great as or greater than the variation caused by environmental factors. Except for Mg, concentrations of mineral elements were significantly lower in the year in which the grain yield was higher. Except for Ca, high grain yields of cultivars were associated with low concentrations of minerals, indicating that one-sided selection for high grain yield tends to reduce the nutritional quality of triticale grain. Concentrations of protein and minerals were positively correlated, suggesting that breeding for elevated levels of protein is likely to increase the concentrations of minerals.