Skip to main content
ARS Home » Midwest Area » Wooster, Ohio » Corn, Soybean and Wheat Quality Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #372216
Research Project: Genetic and Biochemical Basis of Soft Winter Wheat End-Use Quality

Location: Corn, Soybean and Wheat Quality Research

Title: Influences of high-molecular-weight glutenin subunits and rye translocations on dough-mixing properties and sugar-snap cookie-baking quality of soft winter wheat

Author
item MA, FENGYUN - The Ohio State University
item KIM, JIEUN - Chonbuk National University
item Baik, Byung-Kee

Submitted to: Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 4/16/2020
Publication Date: 5/23/2020
Citation: Ma, F., Kim, J., Baik, B.V. 2020. Influences of high-molecular-weight glutenin subunits and rye translocations on dough-mixing properties and sugar-snap cookie-baking quality of soft winter wheat. Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture. 100(10):3850-3856. https://doi.org/10.1002/jsfa.10423.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/jsfa.10423

Interpretive Summary: Kernel hardness and protein characteristics of wheat grain are strongly associated with cookie baking quality. Low kernel hardness (and consequent fine particle size, low damaged starch content and low sodium carbonate solvent retention capacity) of wheat flour are prerequisite for yielding cookies with large diameters and high top-grain scores. Wheat flour of low protein content and strength is expected to produce large diameter cookies with high top grain scores. The high molecular weight glutenin subunit (HMW-GS) profiles (which are major determinants of protein strength) desirable for making cookies are, however, not well defined. In our previous study, we observed wide variations in the HMW-GS profiles and rye proteins introduced in U.S. eastern soft winter (ESW) wheat; elucidated the frequency of each HMW-GS and rye protein type and their associations with protein content and strength; and identified the association of subunits 2+121 with weak protein strength. In the current study, we observed that HMW-GSs and introduced rye proteins significantly influenced the dough mixing properties and cookie-baking quality of ESW wheat. ESW wheat varieties carrying HMW-GS profiles containing subunits 2+121 showed weaker dough mixing properties and produced cookies with larger diameters and higher top-grain scores compared to those carrying other profiles. The screening of wheat breeding lines for the presence of subunits 2+121 will ensure the appropriate protein strength of ESW wheat and superior cookie baking quality, and will provide wheat breeders with an effective selection tool in the development of wheat varieties suitable for making cookies.

Technical Abstract: BACKGROUND: The significance of high-molecular-weight glutenin subunits (HMW-GSs) and rye translocations, and their associations with gluten strength, are well understood for hard wheat in making bread, but remain poorly understood for soft wheat in making cookies. The influences of HMW-GSs and rye translocations on dough mixing properties and cookie-baking quality of soft wheat were investigated using fifty U.S. eastern soft winter (ESW) wheat varieties possessing fourteen predominant HMW-GS profiles. RESULTS: Glu-A1 and Glu-B1 loci significantly influenced dough mixing properties only, whereas the Glu-D1 locus significantly influenced both dough mixing properties and cookie-baking quality. The subunits 1, 7*+8 and 5+10 at the Glu-A1, Glu-B1 and Glu-D1 loci, respectively, were associated with long midline peak time, while only the rare subunits 2+121 at the Glu-D1 locus exhibited significant associations with improved cookie-baking quality of ESW wheat. The contributions of rye translocations to dough mixing properties and cookie-baking quality depended on HMW-GS profiles. Three HMW-GS profiles (2*, 7+9, 2+121), (2*, 7+8, 2+121) and (1, 7+8, 2+121) were identified to be desirable for making large-diameter cookies. Flour protein content, lactic acid and sodium carbonate solvent retention capacities and softness equivalence were identified to be effective predictors of cookie diameter and accounted for 79% of the variation in cookie diameter. CONCLUSION: Subunits 2+121 have significant associations with protein characteristics and cookie-baking quality of soft wheat. Determination of HMW-GS composition would be an effective tool in soft wheat breeding programs for quickly identifying and selecting acceptable breeding lines possessing desirable cookie-baking potential.