Boron supplementation in two Malaysian rice varieties (Oryza sativa L.) and its impact on grain physical quality and antioxidants activities grown under greenhouse conditions

Crops are often deficient in boron in several countries, including Malaysia. A pot trial study was conducted in the Greenhouse Number 5 located in the Faculty Plantation and Agrotechnology, Universiti Teknologi MARA Malacca Branch, Jasin Campus, Malaysia between 2 August 2024 to 28 February 2025. The aim of the present trial was to investigate the influence of different levels of boron supplementation on grain physical quality and antioxidants activities attributes of two modern high yielding rice varieties known as MR269 and MR303. The boron supplementation treatments applied were T1 (Control), T2 (15kg B/ha), T3 (30kg B/ha) and T4 (45kg B/ha) and arranged as a factorial design in the Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) with four times replication. The findings revealed that adding different levels of boron nutrition to rice did not have a significant effect on the physical quality traits of both rice varieties. Significant results were obtained for antioxidant activities, including DPPH scavenging activity in both rice varieties and the total flavonoids content (TFC) for MR303 after boron fertilization. The T3 (30 kg B/ha) and T4 (45 kg B/ha) boron treatments demonstrated a boost in DPPH scavenging activity and TFC for MR303 in comparison to MR269 rice variety.