Most starch properties belong to group ‘c’ and ‘d’ as they are affected by conditions at the initial and late stages of plant growth.
Initial water stress resulted in property changes, either higher (i) or lower (ii) relative to the no water stress condition, the response was not always consistent
and depended on conditions prevailing during the remainder of the trial.
Regardless of the initial water stress, onset of rainfall after the late drought resulted in either diminished (Group ‘c’,Fig. 3.4) or extended (Group ‘d’, Fig. 3.5) starch property.
In group ‘c’ most starch properties, including hydration capacity and paste viscosity,
were affected by initial water stress and were lower (Fig. 3.4, ii) relative to the crop without initial water stress.