Influence of pre-sowing grain crops treatment with amino acids-modified bentonite on their sowing qualities

The aim of the study is to determine the effect of pre-sowing treatment of spring wheat, barley and oat seeds on their quality indicators. The effect of grain soaking in aqueous suspensions of sodium-activated bentonite, as well as bentonite modified with glycine, aspartic acid, lysine on the content of substances with antioxidant properties, vitamin C, its germination energy and germination in sprouted grain was studied. The correlation between the antioxidant content and sowing qualities of pre-sowing treated grain was analyzed. The treatment mode consisted of soaking the grain in a 0.5 % aqueous suspension of activated or modified bentonite for 5 minutes. A stimulating effect on the antioxidant content in sprouted grain was recorded as a result of pre-sowing treatment with sodium-activated bentonite by 30 % for oats. The use of amino acid-modified bentonite showed an additional increase in the antioxidant content in barley and wheat grains compared to bentonite alone and no increase for oats. The maximum stimulation level in the antioxidant content relative to the control was 35.4 % for barley and 6% for wheat treated with aspartic acid-modified bentonite. A significant increase in the vitamin C content was recorded in grain treated with an aqueous suspension of activated bentonite compared to the control; the effect was 69.2 and 33.3 % for wheat and oats, respectively. For all grain crops, the effect of each pre-sowing treatment option on the germination energy and emergence indicators was positive relative to the control and statistically significant. The maximum increase in germination energy: for wheat - 28 % in the variant with treatment with activated bentonite; for barley - 28; and for oats - almost 17 % in the variant with treatment with bentonite modified with aspartic acid. The greatest increase in the germination rate was expressed: for wheat - by 19 % in the variant with treatment with activated bentonite; for barley - by 18, and for oats - by 13 % in the variant with treatment with bentonite modified with aspartic acid.