SPRING WHEAT GRAIN QUALITY IN RELATION TO A CROPPING SYSTEM

In a field experiment, an assessment was made of the quality and chemical composition of grain of spring wheat sown in the following cropping systems: 1) crop rotation A: pea - spring wheat - durum wheat, 2) crop rotation B: pea - spring barley - spring wheat, and 3) cereal monoculture: spring barley - spring wheat - durum wheat. It was found that the content of total protein and wet gluten in spring wheat grain and the value of the sedimentation index were significantly higher in crop rotation A than in crop rotation B and in the cereal monoculture. Wheat grain harvested in crop rotations A and B had significantly higher specific weight and better uniformity than grain from the cereal monoculture. In turn, grain from the cereal monoculture had a higher content of total ash than grain from crop rotations A and B. The same grain also had a higher content of phosphorus than grain from crop rotation B, and a similar content of phytic acid to that of grain from crop rotations A and B. Moreover, the content of polyphenols in grain harvested from the monoculture was higher than in grain from crop rotation A. On the other hand, the content of vitamin C in grain from crop rotations A and B was higher than in grain from the cereal monoculture. The components of variance analysis indicate that the content of protein and gluten in grain and the value of the sedimentation index were more affected by the cropping systems than by the study years, although the grain volume weight, grain uniformity and ash content were determined to a greater extent by the course of weather conditions in the study years than by the cropping systems.