Arbuscular mycorrhizae inoculation of einkorn wheat affects fatty acid, nutrient and mineral concentrations

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of arbuscular mycorrhizae (AM) inoculation, which was administered to increase the quality of einkorn wheat in its fatty acid composition, quality and mineral concentration. Wheat grown from AM inoculated seed (AM+) had increased the dry matter (DM), iron (Fe), monounsaturated fatty acids (MUFA), especially oleic acid, and alpha-linolenic acid, and cis-5,-8,-11,-14, and cis-17 eicosapentaenoic acid from polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) (P <0.05), but decreased crude ash (CA), potassium (K), and total saturated fatty acids (UFA), especially myristic acid, palmitic acid, stearic acid and monounsaturated fatty acids, especially cis-palmitoleic acid, cis-10-heptadecenoic acid, cis-11 eicosenoic acid, erucic acid, and linoleic acid (P <0.05) compared with einkorn wheat grown from non-inoculated seed (AM-). Crude protein (CP) content ranged from 10.56% to 10.68%, and ether extract (EE) content varied between 2.03% and 2.41%, neither of which was significantly different between treatments. Significant increases were observed in UFA, and in the ratios of UFA to SFA and PUFA to SFA in AM+ compared with AM © 2021. Copyright resides with the authors in terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 South African Licence