Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2025 Aug 4:16:1548792.
doi: 10.3389/fpls.2025.1548792. eCollection 2025.

Concentration-dependent effects of boron fertilizer on growth, yield, and quality of buckwheat

Ying Jiang  1 , Sunyu Wang  2 , Yanmin Liu  3 , An Wang  1 , Lei Chang  1 , Yingchun Cai  1 , Tian Yu  4 , QingTao Chang  1
Affiliations

Concentration-dependent effects of boron fertilizer on growth, yield, and quality of buckwheat

Ying Jiang et al. Front Plant Sci. .

Abstract

Introduction: Boron is an essential trace element for plant growth and development, playing a critical role in flowering, fruit setting, nutrient transport, and stress resistance in crops. Buckwheat is‌ an important coarse grain crop, ‌and‌ its yield and quality are easily affected by boron nutritional status.

Methods: In order to identify the optimal concentration of boron fertilizer to maximize growth and yield of buckwheat, pot experiments and field trials were carried out at different mass concentrations of boron fertilizer solution: 0, 12, 24, 48, and 72 mg/L.

Results: The results showed that 48 mg/L boron fertilizer solution promoted seed germination and seedling growth of Suqiao 1, whereas 24 mg/L boron fertilizer solution had the best effect on seed germination and seedling growth of 1412-69. Moreover, the levels of activity of superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), and peroxidase (POD) of Suqiao 1 seedlings were highest under the 48 mg/L boron fertilizer treatment, and those in 1412-69 were highest under the 24 mg/L treatment. The highest grain yield and grain quality of Suqiao 1 were found at a boron concentration of 48 mg/L, whereas grain yield and quality of 1412-69 were maximized at a concentration of 24 mg/L.

Discussion: In summary, boron fertilizer solutions at optimal concentrations can effectively stimulate buckwheat seed germination and seedling growth and thus enhance buckwheat yield.

Keywords: boron fertilizer; buckwheat; quality; seed germination; seedling growth; yield.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Morphological changes of Suqiao 1 and 1412–69 under Different Boron Fertilizer Concentrations. From left to right, the morphological changes of two buckwheat varieties (Suqiao 1 and 1412-69) under different boron fertilizer solution concentrations (0, 12, 24, 48, and 72 mg/L) are represented successively. The results show that with the increase in the concentration of the boron fertilizer solution, the growth status of the two buckwheat varieties has changed significantly. When the concentration of the boron solution is 48 mg/L, Suqiao 1 grows the best. When the concentration of the boron fertilizer solution is 24 mg/L, 1412–69 grows the best. It can be found that there are differences in the sensitivity of Suqiao 1 and 1412–69 to the concentration of the boron fertilizer.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Effect of boron fertilizer solution with different mass concentration on germination of buckwheat seeds. (A) Effect of boron fertilizer solution with different mass concentration on germination potential of buckwheat seeds. (B) Effect of boron fertilizer solution with different mass concentration on germination rate of buckwheat seeds. (C) Effect of boron fertilizer solution with different mass concentration on germination length of buckwheat seeds. (D) Effect of boron fertilizer solution with different mass concentration on root length of buckwheat seeds. (E) Effect of boron fertilizer solution with different mass concentration on germination index of buckwheat seeds. (F) Effect of boron fertilizer solution with different mass concentration on vigor index of buckwheat seeds. Bars superscripted by different lowercase letters are significantly different at the 0.05 probability level (the same below).
Figure 3
Figure 3
Effects of boron fertilizer solution with different mass concentration on growth of buckwheat seedlings. (A) Effect of different concentrations of boron fertilizer solution on buckwheat plant height. (B) Effect of different concentrations of boron fertilizer solution on stem diameter of buckwheat. (C) Effect of different concentrations of boron fertilizer solution on fresh weight of buckwheat (D) Effect of different concentrations of boron fertilizer solution on the number of nodes of buckwheat main stem. (E) Effects of different concentrations of boron fertilizer solution on the number of branches of buckwheat main stem. (F) Effects of different concentrations of boron fertilizer solution on the number of leaves per main buckwheat plant.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Effect of boron fertilizer solution with different mass concentration on chlorophyll SPAD value of buckwheat seedlings.
Figure 5
Figure 5
Effects of boron fertilizer solution with different mass concentrations on physiological indexes of buckwheat. (A) The effects of different concentrations of boron fertilizer solution on SOD activity of buckwheat seedlings. (B) Effects of different concentrations of boron fertilizer solution on CAT activity of buckwheat seedlings. (C) Effects of different concentrations of boron fertilizer solution on POD activity of buckwheat seedlings. (D) Effects of different concentrations of boron fertilizer solution on MDA content of buckwheat seedlings.
Figure 6
Figure 6
Effects of different concentrations of boron fertilizer solution on buckwheat grain quality. (A) Effects of different concentrations of boron fertilizer solution on buckwheat grain protein. (B) Effects of different concentrations of boron fertilizer solution on buckwheat grain starch. (C) Effects of different concentrations of boron fertilizer solution on buckwheat grain fat. (D) Effects of different concentrations of boron fertilizer solution on total flavonoids in buckwheat grains. (E) Effects of different concentrations of boron fertilizer solution on quercetin content in buckwheat grains. (F) Effects of different concentrations of boron fertilizer solution on the rutin content in buckwheat grains. Data are presented as mean ± standard error of the mean. Bars superscripted by different lowercase letters are significantly different at the 0.05 probability level.
Figure 7
Figure 7
Effects of boron fertilizer solutions at different concentrations on the expression of boron transporter BOR1 in buckwheat. (A) Effects of boron fertilizer solutions at different concentrations on BOR1 expression in buckwheat roots. (B) Effects of boron fertilizer solutions at different concentrations on BOR1 expression in buckwheat stems. (C) Effects of boron fertilizer solutions at different concentrations on BOR1 expression in buckwheat leaves. (D) Effects of boron fertilizer solutions at different concentrations on BOR1 expression in buckwheat grains. Data are presented as mean ± standard error of the mean. Bars superscripted by different lowercase letters are significantly different at the 0.05 probability level.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

References

    1. Ali F., Qanmber G., Li F., Wang Z. (2022). Updated role of ABA in seed maturation, dormancy, and germination. J. Adv. Res. 35, 199–214. doi: 10.1016/j.jare.2021.03.011, PMID: - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Arrobas M., Raimundo S., Conceição N., Moutinho-Pereira J., Correia C. M., Rodrigues M. (2023). On sandy, boron-poor soils, liming induced severe boron deficiency and drastically reduced the dry matter yield of young olive trees. Plants (Basel) 12, 4161. doi: 10.3390/plants12244161, PMID: - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Chen X. F., Chen H. H., Huang W. L., Huang W. T., Huang Z. R., Yang L. T., et al. (2024). Boron reduced copper excess-induced oxidative damage in Citrus sinensis by modulating reactive oxygen species and methylglyoxal formation and their detoxification systems. Antioxidants (Basel) 13, 268. doi: 10.3390/antiox13030268, PMID: - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Chu L., Schäfer C. C., Matthes M. S. (2025). Molecular mechanisms affected by boron deficiency in root and shoot meristems of plants. J. Exp. Bot. 76, 1866–1878. doi: 10.1093/jxb/eraf036, PMID: - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. da Silva Liber Lopes P. M., Campos C. N. S., Teodoro P. E., Costa M. G., de Souza Júnior J. P., de Mello Prado R. (2023). The synergistic effects of soil-applied boron and foliar-applied silicon on cotton fiber quality and yield. BMC Plant Biol. 23, 520. doi: 10.1186/s12870-023-04542-y, PMID: - DOI - PMC - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources