{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,14]],"date-time":"2026-10-14T21:55:21Z","timestamp":1792014921800,"version":"4.4.0"},"reference-count":37,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"24","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2021,12,18]],"date-time":"2021-12-18T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1639785600000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"This research was funded by the Taif University Researchers for funding this research with Sup-porting Project number (TURSP-2020\/23), Taif University, Taif, Saudi Arabia.","award":["TURSP-2020\/23"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["TURSP-2020\/23"]}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Molecules"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Biofortification of pulse crops with Zn and Fe is a viable approach to combat their widespread deficiencies in humans. Lentil (Lens culinaris Medik.) is a widely consumed edible crop possessing a high level of Zn and Fe micronutrients. Thus, the present study was conducted to examine the influence of foliar application of Zn and Fe on productivity, concentration, uptake and the economics of lentil cultivation (LL 931). For this, different treatment combinations of ZnSO4\u00b77H2O (0.5%) and FeSO4\u00b77H2O (0.5%), along with the recommended dose of fertilizer (RDF), were applied to the lentil. The results of study reported that the combined foliar application of ZnSO4\u00b77H2O (0.5%) + FeSO4\u00b77H2O (0.5%) at pre-flowering (S1) and pod formation (S2) stages was most effective in enhancing grain and straw yield, Zn and Fe concentration, and uptake. However, the outcome of this treatment was statistically on par with the results obtained under the treatment ZnSO4\u00b77H2O (0.5%) + FeSO4\u00b77H2O (0.5%) at S1 stage. A single spray of ZnSO4\u00b77H2O (0.5%) + FeSO4\u00b77H2O (0.5%) at S1 stage enhanced the grain and straw yield up to 39.6% and 51.8%, respectively. Similarly, Zn and Fe concentrations showed enhancement in grain (10.9% and 20.4%, respectively) and straw (27.5% and 27.6% respectively) of the lentil. The increase in Zn and Fe uptake by grain was 54.8% and 68.0%, respectively, whereas uptake by straw was 93.6% and 93.7%, respectively. Also the benefit:cost was the highest (1.96) with application of ZnSO4\u00b77H2O (0.5%) + FeSO4\u00b77H2O (0.5%) at S1 stage. Conclusively, the combined use of ZnSO4\u00b77H2O (0.5%) + FeSO4\u00b77H2O (0.5%) at S1 stage can contribute significantly towards yield, Zn and Fe concentration, as well as uptake and the economic returns of lentil to remediate the Zn and Fe deficiency.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/molecules26247671","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2021,12,20]],"date-time":"2021-12-20T02:50:18Z","timestamp":1639968618000},"page":"7671","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":39,"title":["Enrichment of Zinc and Iron Micronutrients in Lentil (Lens culinaris Medik.) through Biofortification"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"26","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-2330-0420","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Salwinder Singh","family":"Dhaliwal","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Soil Science, Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana 141004, India"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-8130-4265","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Vivek","family":"Sharma","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Soil Science, Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana 141004, India"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-7867-8717","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Arvind Kumar","family":"Shukla","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Indian Institute of Soil Science (IISS), Bhopal 462038, India"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Janpriya","family":"Kaur","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Soil Science, Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana 141004, India"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-2576-4173","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Vibha","family":"Verma","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Soil Science, Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana 141004, India"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Prabhjot","family":"Singh","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Soil Science, Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana 141004, India"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Harkirat","family":"Singh","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Soil Science, Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana 141004, India"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-2495-0484","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Shams H.","family":"Abdel-Hafez","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Chemistry, College of Science, Taif University, Taif 21944, Saudi Arabia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-7002-568X","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Samy","family":"Sayed","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Science and Technology, University College-Ranyah, Taif University, Taif 21944, Saudi Arabia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-8297-935X","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Ahmed","family":"Gaber","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Biology, College of Science, Taif University, Taif 21944, Saudi Arabia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-3104-7613","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Reham","family":"Ali","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Chemistry, College of Science, Qassim University, Buraidah 51452, Saudi Arabia"},{"name":"Chemistry Department, Science College, Suez University, Suez 43518, Egypt"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-0264-2712","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Akbar","family":"Hossain","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Agronomy, Bangladesh Wheat and Maize Research Institute, Dinajpur 5200, Bangladesh"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2021,12,18]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"61","DOI":"10.7812\/TPP\/12-085","article-title":"Nutritional update for physicians: Plant-based diets","volume":"17","author":"Tuso","year":"2013","journal-title":"Perm. 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