Since water availability plays a significant role in mineral mobilization,
water deficit can reduce mineral uptake. Nevertheless, in
some circumstances the concentration of minerals might increase
due to dilution/concentration effects: this happens when dry matter
accumulates to a lesser extent than minerals. This was observed
for P, Mg and especially Zn and Fe in roots supporting the findings of
Ti et al. (2010) who assumed that drought improved routes and/or
transport mechanisms for those elements in water stressed maize.
Contrary to sugar beet, K was not affected by water stress, despite
that it is considered to play a key role in plant water economy
affecting water cell function (Tsialtas and Maslaris, 2006).