Effects of elevated atmospheric CO2 on grain quality of wheat

Wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) is one of the most important agricultural crops worldwide. Due to its high content of starch and unique gluten proteins, wheat grain is used for many food and non-food applications. Although grain quality is an important topic for food and feed as well as industrial processing, the consequences of future increases in atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) concentrations on quality parameters such as nutritional and bread-making rheological properties are still unclear. Wheat productivity increases under CO2 enrichment. Concomitantly, the chemical composition of vegetative plant parts is often changed and grain quality is altered. In particular, the decrease in grain protein concentration and changes in protein composition may have serious economic and health implications. Additionally, CO2 enrichment affects amino acid composition and the concentrations of macro- and micro-elements. However, experimental results are often inconsistent. The present review summarises the results from numerous CO2 enrichment experiments using different exposure techniques in order to quantify the potential impacts of projected atmospheric CO2 levels on wheat grain yield and on aspects of grain composition relevant to processing and human nutrition.