Rice Science ›› 2024, Vol. 31 ›› Issue (3): 328-342.DOI: 10.1016/j.rsci.2024.02.005

• Research Papers • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Enriching Iodine and Regulating Grain Aroma, Appearance Quality, and Yield in Aromatic Rice by Foliar Application of Sodium Iodide

Hong Weiyuan1,2,3,#, Duan Meiyang1,2,3,#, Wang Yifei1,2,3, Chen Yongjian1,2,3, Mo Zhaowen1,2,3, Qi Jianying1,2,3, Pan Shenggang1,2,3, Tang Xiangru1,2,3()   

  1. 1State Key Laboratory for Conservation and Utilization of Subtropical Agricultural Bioresources, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou 510642, China
    2Scientific Observing and Experimental Station of Crop Cultivation in South China, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affair, Guangzhou 510642, China
    3Guangzhou Key Laboratory for Science and Technology of Aromatic Rice, Guangzhou 510642, China
  • Received:2023-11-14 Accepted:2024-01-17 Online:2024-05-28 Published:2024-06-04
  • Contact: Tang Xiangru
  • About author:First author contact:

    # These authors contributed equally to this work

Abstract:

Applying iodine fertilizers to cultivate iodine-rich crops for daily intake is an effective approach for iodine supplementation, especially for aromatic rice. Field experiments were conducted during the early growing seasons of 2021 and 2022 to evaluate the impacts of foliar application of iodine fertilizer on aromatic rice and to explore the optimal iodine fertilizer concentration. At the full heading stage, six different concentrations of sodium iodide solutions of 0% (CK), 0.010% (T1), 0.025% (T2), 0.050% (T3), 0.075% (T4), and 0.100% (T5) were applied to indica aromatic rice cultivars Meixiangzhan 2 and Xiangyaxiangzhan. The results showed that sodium iodide treatments significantly increased the iodine and sodium contents in both leaves and grains. Compared with the CK, the T1 and T2 treatments increased the 2-acetyl-1-pyrroline (2-AP) content in mature grains by 8.41%‒101.66% and 13.58%‒ 74.60%, respectively. Improvements in the contents of 1-pyrroline-5-carboxylic acid, proline, 1-pyrroline, and methylglyoxal, as well as the activity of proline dehydrogenase were also detected. Additionally, sodium iodide treatments remarkably decreased the chalky grain rate, chalkiness area, and chalkiness degree of aromatic rice, with the T2 treatment exhibiting a 17.79%‒47.42% decrease in chalkiness degree compared with the CK. Meanwhile, T1 and T2 treatments showed beneficial impacts on chlorophyll content, photosynthetic characteristics, and yield components, while T3, T4, and T5 treatments exhibited adverse effects on leaf and grain yields. The linear discriminant analysis revealed significant differences between treatments. The correlation analysis and piecewise structural equation modeling showed that the iodine and sodium influenced the photosynthetic characteristics and chlorophyll content of the leaves, thereby regulating the 2-AP biosynthesis and yield components, ultimately affecting the 2-AP content and yield. Overall, this study suggests that foliar application of 0.025% sodium iodide is an effective method to enrich the iodine content in rice grains, improve the grain aroma and appearance quality of aromatic rice, without detrimental effects on grain yield.

Key words: 2-acetyl-1-pyrroline, appearance quality, aromatic rice, foliar application, grain yield, iodine