Location: Grain Quality and Structure Research
2025 Annual Report
Objectives
OBJECTIVE 1: Determine and improve analytical methods for the biochemical and macro-molecular interactions responsible for hard winter wheat end-use quality.
Sub-objective 1A: Establish connections between glutenin subunit composition and polymeric protein content and composition and functionality of hard winter wheat.
Subobjective 1B: Assess the potential of near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) in the evaluation of tortilla quality, particularly changes that occur in tortillas during the staling process and compare to subjective analysis (rollability) and objective analysis.
OBJECTIVE 2: Evaluate and report the milling (processing and intrinsic end-use quality) parameters of hard winter wheat commercially-viable cultivars as part of a Congressionally-designated direct mission of service.
Subobjective 2A: Evaluate and screen the quality attributes of hard winter wheat experimental breeding lines and improve quality of existing hard winter wheat cultivars for end-product quality of the world’s wheat-based staples, such as bread (whole wheat), tortillas, noodles and other products desired by customer markets.
Subobjective 2B: Coordinate and conduct essential hard winter wheat projects of national importance, such as Wheat Quality Council (WQC), Regional Performance Nursery (RPN) and Hard Winter Wheat Crop Quality Survey (HWWCQS) for improvement of U.S wheat quality.
Approach
Cereal grains are the foundation of food and nutrition worldwide with the United States being a perennial leader in hard winter wheat (HWW) production. Thus, domestic and international customers come to expect high quality wheat from the Great Plains. That said, there continues to be challenging international competition for the global HWW market. To ensure the U.S. remains competitive both domestically and internationally, the end-use quality of hard HWW must continually be evaluated and improved. This project will identify the physical and biochemical components of hard winter wheat that contribute to functionality. In addition, we will evaluate the intrinsic end-use quality of hard winter wheat progenies for wheat breeding programs in the Great Plains Area as a regional wheat quality laboratory (Hard Winter Wheat Quality Laboratory, HWWQL). The HWWQL provides critical end-use quality data to the HWW growing region and conducts three annual evaluation projects that include the Wheat Quality Council Evaluations, Regional Performance Nursery Program and Hard Winter Wheat Crop Quality Survey, as well as hundreds of breeding lines from breeders in the Great Plains and adapted HWW areas of eastern States, such as NC, SC, GA, KY and VA. The data from these projects assist breeders, producers, millers, bakers and other key industry components, in making pivotal decisions regarding breeding, agronomics, processing and marketing of experimental and commercial wheat varieties.
Progress Report
This project has finished its 5-year plan, and we're now sharing the final summary report. In relation to our first goal, we focused on understanding and improving the methods used to study the proteins and other big molecules that affect the quality of hard winter wheat. In Sub-goal 1A, we continued our research on how the composition of gluten proteins (specifically glutenin subunits) and the amount of protein in the wheat affect its overall quality. Wheat gluten is a large molecule that doesn’t dissolve easily. Normally, scientists break it into smaller parts to measure it, but we used a special technique called asymmetrical flow field-flow fractionation (FFF) to measure the gluten’s size without breaking it apart. We did this by slowly dissolving the gluten in a mild acid for 48 hours at room temperature. Our measurements showed that the gluten molecules in different wheat samples ranged from 106 to 110 million Daltons in molecular size. We also tested how different treatments on wheat, like using high heat or microwaving, affect the protein structure. These treatments made gluten proteins much less soluble, dropping from 6.5% to less than 0.5% solubility. Additionally, we sorted wheat samples based on their protein content into three groups: less than 14%, between 14-19%, and more than 19%. This sorting was done using a new machine that analyzes individual wheat kernels with near-infrared light.
The U.S. annually produces approximately 20 million acres of hard winter wheat (about 40% of total U.S. wheat production in the Great Plain states, with a value exceeding $8 billion). The Hard Winter Wheat Quality Laboratory (HWWQL) provides critical information to the plant breeding community, domestic and international markets on an annual basis. Regarding Sub-objective 2A, the wheat and flour quality characteristics of over 2,000 hard winter wheat experimental breeding lines were evaluated. Breeding programs from Colorado, Idaho, Kansas, Montana, Nebraska, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Texas, West Virgina, Wyoming, and private breeders submitted samples for evaluation. Reports of over 40 quality parameters per sample were provided at stakeholder meetings and field days. For Sub-objective 2B the end-use quality evaluation of experimental wheat lines in the USDA Regional Performance Nurseries, as well as evaluation of advanced lines submitted to the Wheat Quality Council, and Hard Winter Wheat Crop Quality Survey (HWWCQS) for improvement of U.S wheat quality. In total, over 5000 wheat samples were tested by the HWWQL, with over 40 quality characteristics reported for each sample submitted. Real-time wheat quality data were also provided to the wheat industry during the annual wheat harvest and updated on a weekly basis for potential buyers
Accomplishments
1. Novel application of sprouted low falling number wheat. A low falling number (LFN) indicates that seeds have undergone sprouting and subsequent starch degradation generally due to too much rain just before harvest resulting in flour that is severely limited in use and must be sold at a discount. ARS scientists in Manhattan, Kansas, and partners at Kansas State University investigated the use of LFN wheat to produce high quality, clean-label cake flour. The straight-grade flour from LFN wheat was evaluated for their cake baking quality after treatment with a dry heat treatment process and compared with commercial cake flours. Baking tests demonstrated that the heat-treated LFN wheat flour performed similarly, if not better than those of commercial products. Results demonstrated that dry heat treatment improved pasting and rheological properties of LFN wheat flours for cake application. This study offers opportunities for the baking industry to utilize LFN wheat in baked products and may prevent wheat farmers from suffering huge economic losses during unfavorable weather conditions in the future.
2. Characterization of low falling number in the absence of elevated alpha-amylase activity in soft white wheat. A low falling number (LFN) indicates that seeds have undergone activation of amylase enzymes in the seed before harvest. ARS scientists in Manhattan, Kansas, and partners at Washington State University and ARS scientists in Pullman, Washington, characterized the 2024 soft white wheat crop with LFN in the absence of a-amylase activity. This study found low protein, increased amylose content, and flour particle size distribution may be contributing to the LFN in soft white wheat. Regardless of the source, LFN in the absence of alpha-amylase activity does not appear to have any adverse effect on Japanese sponge cake quality
3. Single kernel near infrared amylose calibration models for wheat. Amylose content plays an important role in functional and nutritional properties of starches and flours, yet different amylose contents are often reported from different analytical methods for the same sample. An accurate and precise estimate of amylose contents in wheat kernels is very useful for wheat breeding for selecting low amylose at early stages of the breeding process. ARS scientists in Manhattan, Kansas and partners at Kansas State University and ARS scientists in Wooster, Ohio and Pullman, Washington, investigated the feasibility of building a model to estimate amylose contents in wheat kernels. A reliable procedure for measuring amylose in single wheat kernel was established using near infrared spectroscopy. The preliminary model performed well for predicting wheat kernel amylose contents with 85% accuracy that provides potential for new quality tests and milling and baking applications
4. Regional performance of hard winter wheat evaluated. The U.S. annually produces approximately 20 million acres of hard winter wheat (about 40% of total U.S. wheat production in the Great Plain states, with a value exceeding $8 billion). ARS scientists in Manhattan, Kansas, completed the annual Regional Performance Nursery report in which 335 composites from more than 1350 individual samples from more than 29 locations were evaluated for milling and baking quality. The report was posted online and a relational database for summarization and interpretation of regional performance nursery wheat end-use quality data annually updated were used by wheat breeders to assist in the decision-making process of their breeding program for end-use quality.
5. Development of new commercial wheat varieties through the Hard Winter Wheat Quality Council. The Wheat Quality Council advocates for the development of new wheat varieties that improve the value of wheat in the U.S. supply chain. ARS scientists in Manhattan, Kansas, completed the annual Wheat Quality Council report in which 23 advanced wheat lines from the Great Plain states were evaluated for milling and baking quality with collaborators from baking and milling industries. The report was posted online, and statistical results were reviewed and discussed at the annual Wheat Quality Council meeting with various sectors of wheat industries to improve end-use quality before the breeding lines were released for U.S. wheat farmers. The evaluation of end-use quality during breeding of new wheat lines will identify wheat that does not meet important quality criteria and thus prevent these cultivars from entering the marketing system with potentially disastrous economic results.
6. Evaluation of hard winter wheat experimental breeding lines from breeding programs throughout the United States. ARS scientists in Manhattan, Kansas, completed evaluations on over 400 advanced experimental lines from 8 different breeding programs in the United States. Physical grain quality traits (related to the producer marketing the crop) as well as milling and baking tests were completed, and the data was reported back to the respective breeding program. The evaluation of end-use quality during breeding of new wheat lines will identify wheat that does not meet important quality criteria and thus allowing the breeding programs to cull undesirable lines and enrich their programs with high end-use quality wheat.
Review Publications
Mattioni, B., Tilley, M., Scheuer, P., Paulino, N., Yucel, U., Wang, D., De Francisco, A. 2024. Flour treatments affect gluten protein extractability, secondary structure and antibody reactivity. Foods. 13(19). Article 3145. https://doi.org/10.3390/foods13193145.
Li, C., Chen, G., Tilley, M., Chen, Y., Perez-Fajardo, M.A., Wu, X., Li, Y. 2024. Enhancing gluten network formation and bread-making performance of wheat flour using wheat bran aqueous extract. Foods. 13: Article 1479. https://doi.org/10.3390/foods13101479.
Li, C., Tilley, M., Chen, Y., Sun, X., Wang, W., Li, Y. 2024. In-vitro antioxidant properties of wheat bran extracts and their inhibitory effects on collagenase, elastase, and hyaluronidase. ACS Food Science and Technology. 4(8):1960-1966. https://doi.org/10.1021/acsfoodscitech.4c00310.