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Title: RELATIONSHIPS OF PROTEIN COMPOSITION TO QUALITY OF EASTERN-U.S. SOFT WHEATS

Author
item Huebner, Floyd
item Bietz, Jerold
item Finney, Patrick

Submitted to: Cereal Conference Royal Australian Chemical Institute Proceedings
Publication Type: Proceedings
Publication Acceptance Date: 9/4/1996
Publication Date: N/A
Citation: N/A

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: Soft red and white winter wheats from the eastern United States, used in cookies, cakes, and biscuits, have different quality requirements from those of bread wheats. Most soft wheats have been selected for low protein content and softness, factors generally associated with poor breadmaking quality. Protein composition also varies among soft wheats, however, and may influence their use in both traditional and non-traditional products, such as breads. Little is known about this relationship, however, so we have performed detailed analyses of proteins of soft wheat varieties grown in multiple years and locations, and related these compositions to many milling, mixing, and processing properties. Reversed-phase and size- exclusion high-performance liquid chromatography were used to analyze gliadin and glutenin amounts and compositions. We found that glutenin/gliadin ratios vary greatly among soft wheats (1.05-2.04); this range is much greater than that for hard red winter and spring wheats used to produce bread. The average glutenin/gliadin ratios are higher for the soft wheats than for the hard red spring wheats. Amounts of specific protein fractions also vary greatly and correlate significantly with results of many quality tests. Proteins of U.S. soft wheats may thus be valuable predictors of quality, both in breeding new varieties and in determining products for which they are best suited.