Translocation of metabolites in pigeonpea (Cajanus cajan L.) under the influence of mineral nutrients

Mineral nutrient sources viz., CaCl₂ (0.01% and 0.02%), KNO₃ (0.5% and 1%), MgCl₂ (0.1% and 0.2%) and urea (1% and 2%) were applied as foliar application to pigeonpea varieties (PAU 881 and AL 201) at green floral bud stage of inflorescence to study their effect on the level of various metabolites viz., total soluble sugars, total starch, total free amino acids and total soluble proteins in leaves and their subsequent accumulation in developing seeds. It was observed that mineral nutrients caused greater accumulation of different metabolites in developing seeds (sink) which may be attributed to enhanced translocation of these metabolites from source to sink tissues as evident from their decline in leaf tissues (source) thereby strengthening the source-sink relationship in pigeonpea. Urea application @ 2% increased accumulation of metabolites in mature seeds by 27.71 (PAU 881) and 25.25% (AL 201) in case of total soluble sugars, 11.19 (PAU 881) and 11.33%(AL 201) in case of total starch, 38.23 (PAU 881) and 39.41% (AL 201) total free amino acids and 10.72 (PAU 881) and 8.66% (AL 201) of total soluble proteins as compared to their respective controls.