Effects of region, genotype, harvest year and their interactions on δ13C, δ15N and δD in wheat kernels

The objective of this study was to investigate the influences of region, genotype, harvest year and their interactions on stable carbon, nitrogen and hydrogen isotopic ratio (δ13C, δ15N and δD) fingerprints in wheat kernels. A total of 270 wheat kernel samples including ten genotypes were collected from three different regions of China during 2011–2013 harvest. Analysis of variance was employed to investigate the effects of region, genotype, harvest year and their interactions on the δ13C, δ15N and δD. The results showed that the δ13C and δ15N values in wheat kernels were significantly influenced by the region, genotype, harvest year and their interactions (region × genotype, genotype × year, region × year and region × genotype × year), δD was significantly affected by region, genotype, harvest year and region × year. Region accounted for the largest proportion of the total variation and explained 47.57%, 58.02% and 27.96% for δ13C, δ15N and δD, respectively.