Variation of major mineral elements concentration and their relationships in grain of Chinese wheat

Objective)Investigation on concentration of mineral elements including micronutrients as Fe and Zn in wheat grains which are essential for human life is very important for human health. (Method)240 cultivars and advanced lines, originated from Beijing, Hebei, Henan, Shandong, Shanxi, and Shaanxi Provinces, were collected and sown in the experiment station of Institute of Crop Science, in Chinese Academy of Agriculture Sciences in 1997-1998 wheat season, to evaluate the concentrations of major mineral elements in grain including micronutrients as Fe, Zn, Mn, Cu, and macronutrients as Ca, Mg, K, P, S. (Result)Large variation for most of the mineral element concentrations except Mg and S, and big difference between cultivars for all the mineral element concentrations were observed. Among the micronutrients, Fe performed the highest average concentration, with value being of 41.9 mg·kg -1 , while the lowest for Cu, with value being of 5.54 mg·kg -1 . Among the macronutrients, K had the highest average