TEST BAKING FOR BREEDERS AND CULTIVAR DEVELOPMENT

Authors: Morris, Craig; Engle, Douglas

Submitted to: Cereal Conference Royal Australian Chemical Institute Proceedings
Publication Type: Proceedings
Publication Acceptance Date: 1/9/2007
Publication Date: 10/1/2007
Citation: Morris, C.F., Engle, D.A. 2007. Test baking for breeders and cultivar development. Proceedings of the 57th Australian Cereal Chemistry Conference., 5-10 August, 2007. Panozzo, J.F. and Black, C.K. (eds.). Melbourne, Victoria, pp. 133-135.

Interpretive Summary: In “Test Baking for Breeders and Cultivar Development,” authors Craig F. Morris and Doug A. Engle explain the bake method used by the Western Wheat Quality Lab (WWQL) and most other western wheat labs to bake pan bread, which is then tested to determine the quality of the wheat/flour used. Morris and Engle show that the 10-10B bake method used by the WWQL has proven a successful method both for analyzing wheat based on the qualities outlined by Morris and Engle and for determining the suitability of each wheat for commercial bread baking.

Technical Abstract: Evaluation of end-use quality is a key component of the development of new wheat varieties. In this regard, pan bread is and has been the leading target for quality improvement in the U.S. Modern high-speed bakeries require flours of uniform gluten strength with high water absorption, good mixing tolerance, excellent crumb grain, and a good volume-per-unit-protein response. Consequently, cereal chemists and wheat quality labs must evaluate experimental wheat breeding lines for these commercial traits. In the U.S., wheat quality labs include federal labs supported by the USDA, 'state' labs supported by state public universities (often with commodity commission assistance), private breeding company labs, private cereal quality testing labs, and 'not-for-profit' labs. The USDA maintains a system of four regional wheat quality labs including The Western Wheat Quality Lab (WWQL). The WWQL employs pan bread test baking as a key activity for hard red and white wheats. The WWQL works closely with university quality labs in the Pacific Northwest states of Washington, Oregon, Idaho and Montana, as well as its 'sister' USDA lab in Manhattan, Kansas, and the private breeding companies and milling companies in our region to ensure that test baking methods align with the needs of the baking industry. Even though the commercial industry standard is a one pound (450-g) sponge and dough pan bread, the objective of the WWQL and other cereal quality labs is not to produce commercially acceptable (and uniform) bread, rather it is to discriminate among flours from breeding lines for their potential to perform in commercial bread baking. Most cereal quality labs in the U.S. use some variation of the AACC International 10-10B 100 g flour straight-dough method. This method, originating with Karl Finney and Mark Barmore (1943) has been used extensively (and successfully) for over 60 years (AACC International 2000, Finney 1945, Finney and Barmore 1943, 1945a, 1945b, Finney et al 1976). Typically, the WWQL bakes nearly 2,000 bread loaves per year, even though our main focus is cookie and cake baking for the evaluation of soft wheats. Most flours are prepared on a modified Quadrumat Senior (Jeffers and Rubenthaler 1979). All suitable hard red winter and spring, and hard white winter and spring wheat lines are bread baked.