**1. Introduction**

Boron is essential for appropriate reproductive blooming in crops. Reproductive growth is more sensitive to boron deficiency and failure in pollination, abscission of reproductive organ or falling of young fruits are typical symptoms of deficiency [1]. The boron requirement is much higher for reproductive growth than for vegetative

growth in most plant species. Boron increases flower production and retention, pollen tube elongation and germination and seed and fruit development. The reproductive growth especially flowering, fruit and seed set and seed yield is more effective even at moderate boron insufficiency than vegetative growth [2, 3]. Various reports in many crops exhibited that boron can be inadequate and have a notable impact on yield even when there are no vegetative symptoms of boron insufficiency and supply of boron is also adequate [4, 5]. Shedding of buds, flowers and developing fruits and seeds as well poor fruit/seed quality and poor seed viability are seen in crops grown under inadequate boron at the onset of reproductive blooming [6].

Male sterility and retarded microsporogenesis and pollen fertility in wheat due to poor translocation of boron from vegetative to reproductive parts is the main cause of poor grain yield [7]. Post fertilization development and seed maturation is also influenced by the boron nutrition. Poor germination and vigor of seeds was reported in low boron crops [8]. Increment in phenolic compounds and fall in oil content in seeds of *Sesamum* plants receiving inadequate boron nutrition was spotted by Sinha *et al.* [9]. Chatterjee and Nautiyal [10] reported that boron deprivation in sunflower caused morphological aberrations in seeds and bring down the seed content of non-reducing sugars, starch and oil, even at the commencement of anthesis.

The demand of boron nutrition at the time of flowering and seed set is much higher in many crops even when boron concentration in vegetative organs are in appropriate amount Increased abnormal seedlings and decreased germination rate during seed germination was observed in boron insufficient seeds [8, 11, 12]. Various workers have reported that there is an enhancement in fruit set and yield with boron foliar fortification [5, 13]. The same was observed during the reproductive stage of sunflower leads to increment in seed yield suggesting involvement of boron in reproductive biology [4] and also qualitative and quantitative improvement in strawberry fruits [14].

Dordas [15] mentioned the consequences of boron foliar fertilizers on pod development, pod set, seed set, seed yield and yield components such as pod number per inflorescence, seed number per pod, seed development, seed weight, and on seed quality in terms of seed germination and seed vigor and observed that the seed yield was enhanced approximatly 37% and seed germination and seed vigor improved upto 27% in alfalfa as compared to untreated control. They also noticed that the critical boron levels for alfalfa used for forage production is below that for seed production and boron foliar fertilizeration can enhance the seed yield and seed quality of alfalfa grown for seed production. Pandey and Gupta [16] reported improved seed yield and seed vigor in the boron insufficient black gram plants given foliar application of boron. They also reported improved seed quality in terms of storage seed proteins (albumin, globulin, glutenin and prolamin) and carbohydrates (sugars and starch) in black gram received foliar boron fertilizer. The reality of that boron implementation improved seed vigor specifies that seeds with adequate boron nourishment can germinate and produce seedlings with better ability to grow and resist any adverse environmental conditions. This is in agreement with the suggestion that seeds that were developed in plants with adequate nutrient supply show high germination percentage and also have high seed vigor [17].

The essentiality of boron suggests that there is a continuous requirement of it during the entire growth period of plants. There is a critical requirement of boron for reproductive development and seed quality which must be met at the onset of the reproductive phase. Thus boron deficiency is a major factor responsible for low seed yield and quality of oil yielding crops widely cultivated on boron deficient soils world over. The aim of the research work conducted is to put together the effect of boron on reproductive development, production, maturation and nutritive quality

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*Impact of Inadequate Concentration of Boron in Seed Storage Proteins Content in Oilseed Crops*

of soybean, mustard and linseed seeds. In agriculture especial attention is required for achieving higher production and productivity levels in agricultural and horticultural crops which are essential for nutritional security. Thus the crops chosen for the work are the widely consumed soybean, mustard and linseed as they meet the daily cooking oil requirement in India. This chapter also suggests that there is an adequate requirement of boron nutrition to improve seed quality in terms of germination capacity and seed storage protein reserves in the post harvested seeds

Design of experiment is completely randomized and selection of plants was seasonal based during the work carried out in the laboratory. Plants were raised in the glass house under controlled conditions of light (light (PAR) ranged between 1050 to 1180 μmol m−2 s−1 at 12.00 noon), humidity (80–92%) and temperature (maximum and minimum temperature ranged between 37 and 43°C and 28 and

**Sand culture:** Soybean (*Glycine max* var. JS-335), mustard (*Brassica juncea* var. varuna) and linseed (*Linum usitatissimum* var. R-552) were grown in sand culture using the technique developed at the Long Ashton Research Station, Bristol, U.K. [18] and standardized for Indian conditions by Agarwala and Sharma [19]. The composition of nutrient solution used for growing the plants excluding B was: 4 mM KNO3, 4 mM Ca (NO3)2, 2 mM MgSO4, 1.33 mM NaH2PO4, 0.1 mM Fe EDTA, 10 μM MnSO4, 1 μM CuSO4, 1 μM ZnSO4, 0.1 μM Na2MoO4, 0.1 mM NaCl, 0.1 μM CoSO4 and 0.1 μM NiSO4. Boron was supplied as H3BO3 at varying levels as sufficient amount (0.33 mg L−1 B supply) and insufficient (0.033 mg L−1 B

**Seed germination:** Seeds of all crops were first surface-sterilized with 5% (v/v) mercuric chloride solution and washed properly with deionized manesty still water (MSW) before germination. Sterile seeds were then sown in petridishes lined with three fold filter paper in double distilled water at 28°C and 85% relative humidity in seed germinator. The percentage germination of post harvested seeds of all crops

**Seed protein:** Seed protein was extracted by the method of Sommour [20]. After the harvesting of crops seeds were collected and seed coat was removed and seeds were ground in acetone. The extract was centrifuged 3–4 times at 11,500 xg for 10 min. Portions of air dried seed flour (200 mg) were extracted with water for albunins, 5% NaCl for globulins, 0.1 N NaOH for glutenins and 70% ethanol with 2 drops of mercaptoethanol for prolamines at room temperature. The proteins in the above extracts were estimated by the method of Lowry et al. [21]. The optical density of the reaction mixture was measured on spectrophotiometer at 750 nm. The readings were referred to a standard calibration curve prepared from crystalline

Oilseed crops have been the backbone of agricultural economy of India from

times immemorial. Today these crops are cultivated on about 26.67 million hectares, with total production of 30.06 million tonnes [22]. This area constitutes approximately one-tenth of the total cultivated area in India. On the oilseed map of the world, India occupies a prominent position, both in regard to acreage and

*DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.95873*

of soybean, mustard and linseed.

34°C respectively).

supply) amount.

was recorded after 48 h.

bovine serum albumin.

**3. Oilseed crops**

**2. Experimental design and material and methods**

*Impact of Inadequate Concentration of Boron in Seed Storage Proteins Content in Oilseed Crops DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.95873*

of soybean, mustard and linseed seeds. In agriculture especial attention is required for achieving higher production and productivity levels in agricultural and horticultural crops which are essential for nutritional security. Thus the crops chosen for the work are the widely consumed soybean, mustard and linseed as they meet the daily cooking oil requirement in India. This chapter also suggests that there is an adequate requirement of boron nutrition to improve seed quality in terms of germination capacity and seed storage protein reserves in the post harvested seeds of soybean, mustard and linseed.
