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Published on: May 21, 2020
Improving rice cooking and eating quality: Panicle nitrogen fertilizer modifies amylopectin structure and
Zongkui Chen1, Xinrui Li1, Yue Huang1
1Crop Ecophysiology and Cultivation Key Laboratory of Sichuan Province, Rice Research Institute / State Key Laboratory of Crop Gene Exploration and Utilization in Southwest China, Sichuan Agricultural University, Chengdu, 611130, China.
Abstract:
Starch granules properties (crystallinity and bond-energy traits) largely determine rice cooking and eating quality (CEQ), and these properties are predominantly influenced by amylopectin. However, the role of amylopectin's structure and interaction with proteins in shaping starch granules properties and their response to panicle nitrogen fertilizer remains unclear. This study investigated how panicle nitrogen management improves CEQ by examining changes in amylopectin structure, its complexes with glutelin/prolamin, and starch granule properties during after-ripening period. Compare to other treatments, the panicle nitrogen fertilizer (N2; foliar spray at 45 kg N ha-1) increased key amylopectin density (e.g., 2A4B1B2B3), promoting amylopectin-protein complexes formation. The amylopectin structural changes exhibited higher structural stability and solvent-accessible surface area. Furthermore, N2 increased crystallinity and microstrain, while reducing interplanar spacing and surface functional groups abundance. Overall, optimized amylopectin structure and its interactions with proteins under N2 improved starch granules properties, particularly after two-month of after-ripening, thereby enhancing CEQ.
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