Effects of Combined Abiotic Stresses On Nutrient Content of European Wheat and Implications For Nutritional Security Under Climate Change Scenarios

Climate change is causing problems for agriculture, but the effect of combined environmental stresses on crop nutritional quality is not clear. Here we studied the effect of 10 combinations of climatic conditions (temperature, CO2, O3 and drought) in controlled growth chamber conditions on the protein and mineral content of 3 wheat varieties. Results show that wheat plants under O3 exposure alone concentrated 15-31% more grain N, Fe, Mg, Mn P and Zn, reduced K by 5%, and C did not change. Ozone in the presence of elevated CO2 and higher temperature enhanced the content of Fe, Mn, P and Zn by 2-18%. Water-limited chronic O3 exposure resulted in 9-46% higher concentrations of all the minerals, except K. The effect of climate change could increase the ability of wheat to meet adult daily dietary requirements by 1.06-1.12-fold for Fe, Zn and protein, but decrease those of Mg, Mn and P by 1.03-1.06-fold, and K by 2.78-fold. The role of wheat in future nutrition security is discussed.