The findings highlight the need to consider not only crop yields but also nutritional and quality characteristics when adapting wheat cultivation to climate change.
Researchers led by the Leibniz Institute for Food Systems Biology at the Technical University of Munich in Germany said global carbon dioxide (CO2) concentrations have risen from 340 parts per million in 1980 to approximately 425 parts per million in 2024.
Wheat, one of the world's most important staple foods, is expected to grow under substantially higher CO2 concentrations in the future, with levels potentially reaching 600 parts per million by 2050, the researchers said.
To investigate how these conditions could affect wheat, the team cultivated ten varieties of winter wheat under realistic growing and environmental conditions. Some plants were exposed to an elevated CO2 concentration of 546 parts per million, while others were grown under current CO2 conditions.
Following the harvest, researchers analysed the protein composition of the different grain samples using a high-resolution mass spectrometric method they had developed themselves. The analysis focused on several protein groups, including amylase/trypsin-inhibitors, puroindolines and gluten proteins, as well as peptides associated with celiac disease.
The results revealed that elevated CO2 concentrations increased the overall content of amylase/trypsin-inhibitors (ATIs) in wheat. In contrast, the levels of puroindolines, gluten proteins and certain celiac disease-active peptides decreased. These peptides may be produced from gluten proteins during digestion.
The researchers noted that increased levels of ATIs could negatively affect human health. However, the extent of the changes varied considerably depending on the wheat variety.
Sabrina Geisslitz, principal investigator and research associate at the Leibniz Institute, said the results showed that the effects of elevated CO2 concentrations were strongly dependent on the specific wheat cultivar.
Geisslitz also said the reduction in gluten protein concentrations was associated with poorer baking quality, indicating that changes in wheat protein composition under rising atmospheric CO2 levels could have implications for the quality of wheat-based food products.
Katharina Scherf, head of the food biopolymer chemistry research group at the Leibniz Institute and professor of food biopolymer systems at the TUM School of Life Sciences, said the changes in ATIs and certain celiac disease-active peptides could also become relevant for wheat-related diseases over the long term.
However, Scherf emphasised that further studies are required to determine the actual biological and immunological significance of the observed differences.
The researchers said the findings underline the importance of identifying and breeding wheat varieties capable of maintaining high baking quality even as atmospheric CO2 concentrations rise, while containing as few potentially intolerable proteins as possible.
"Rising atmospheric CO2 concentrations may alter the protein composition of wheat and thereby affect grain quality," the authors wrote.
The study highlights the need for climate-resilient wheat breeding strategies that account for changes in grain protein composition alongside yield, particularly as crops face the prospect of growing under higher atmospheric CO2 concentrations in the coming decades.
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