Title : Evaluation of cultural and wild oat varieties for selected traits affecting the quality of human nutrition.
Abstract:
Present use of oats in making products for human nutrition mostly depends on nutritionally valuable compounds of oat grain. The aim of our research was to create a set of oat genotypes with a high variability of quality parameters and to characterize these genotypes for the presence of avenin blocks, ability to produce selected health beneficial substances (such as proteins, dietary fibre, beta-D-glucan, total lipids and others), resistance to infestation with toxicogenic fungi of Fusarium genus, as well as sensitivity to mycotoxins accumulation in the grain. A strong screening test was done to find such genotypes that could be perspective sources with a wide range of uses, e.g. (i) in development of new plant varieties with improved quality characteristics, (ii) as natural sources of beneficial substance(s) for the next use in food industry or (iii) to use the seed or extracted substance(s) in the pharmaceutical industry. In the work, cultural and wild forms of oat were evaluated for the traits that can improve the nutritional quality and contribute to the production of grain harmless to health. The set of genotypes was characterized by a high intra-species variability and enables to discover some new characters absenting in cultural forms or characters that occur rarely. Among the aims of research, an output with a long-term character is to search and/or develop genetic markers for selected traits for Marker Assisted Selection as well as to create a new Avena sativa cultivar and its registration. In our experiment, oat genotypes were grown in two different locations, grain samples were analyzed for beta-D-glucan, dietary fiber, proteins and oil content and fatty acids composition. The identification and characterization of oat genotypes was made also using the electrophoresis of avenins. Artificial infection of plants by Fusarium spp. fungi, as producers of mycotoxins, revealed their sensitivity to infestation and mycotoxin production in grains. Results obtained in this three-year long experiment are discussed in the contribution. This work was supported by OP Research and Development: Development of new types of genetically modified plants with farm traits (ITMS 26220220189), by the European Regional Development Fund and by the Science and Research Support Agency (No. APVV-0398-12) of the Slovak Republic.
