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Pulses such as beans, chickpeas, peas, and lentils are typically consumed whole, but pulse flours will increase their versatility and drive consumption. Beans are the most produced pulse crop in the United States, although their flour use is limited. To expand commercial applications, knowledge of pulse flour attributes important to the food industry is needed. This research aimed to understand the food industry’s needs and barriers for pulse flour utilization. An online survey invitation was sent via direct email to individuals employed in food companies developing wheat flour products. A survey weblink was distributed by pulse commodity boards to their membership. Survey questions asked food manufacturers about intrinsic factors of pulse flours that were satisfactory or challenging, and extrinsic factors for use such as market demand. Of the 75 complete responses, 21 currently or had previously used pulse flours in products, and 54 were non-users of pulse flours. Ten users indicated that there were challenges with pulse flours while five did not. Two of the most selected challenges of end-product qualities were flavor and texture. Over half of the respondents were unfamiliar with bean flour. Increasing awareness of bean flours and their attributes coupled with market demand for pulse flour-based products may be the most important extrinsic factors to increasing use among food manufacturers rather than supply or cost.

An in-depth survey was conducted by collecting information from web sources, supplemented by interviews with experts and/or bakers, to identify all the flat breads (FBs) produced in the nine Mediterranean countries involved in the FlatBreadMine Project (Croatia, Egypt, France, Greece, Italy, Jordan, Lebanon, Malta and Spain), and to have an insight into their technical and cultural features. A database with information on 143 FB types (51 single-layered, 15 double-layered, 66 garnished, 11 fried) was established. Flours were from soft wheat (67.4%), durum wheat (13.7%), corn (8.6%), rye, sorghum, chickpea, and chestnut (together 5.2%). The raising agents were compressed yeast (55.8%), sourdough (16.7%), baking powder (9.0%), but 18.6% of FBs were unleavened. Sixteen old-style baking systems were recorded, classified into baking plates and vertical ovens (tannur and tabun). Artisanal FBs accounted for 82%, while the industrial ones for 7%. Quality schemes (national, European or global) applied to 91 FBs. Fifteen FBs were rare, prepared only for family consumption: changes in lifestyle and increasing urbanization may cause their disappearance. Actions are needed to prevent the reduction of biodiversity related to FBs. Information in the database will be useful for the selection of FBs suitable to promotional activities and technical or nutritional improvement., This paper is supported by the PRIMA program under grant agreement No. 2031, project Flat Bread of Mediterranean area: INnovation & Emerging process & technology (Flat Bread Mine). The PRIMA program is an Art.185 initiative supported and funded under Horizon 2020, the European Union’s Framework Programme for Research and Innovation.

Australia has one of the oldest modern wheat breeding programs worldwide although the crop was first introduced to the country in 1788. Breeders selected wheat with high adaptation to different Australian climates, while ensuring satisfactory yield and quality. This artificial selection left distinct genomic signatures that can be used to retrospectively understand breeding targets, and to detect economically important alleles. To study the effect of artificial selection on modern cultivars and cultivars released in different Australian states, we genotyped 482 Australian cultivars representing the history of wheat breeding in Australia since 1840. Computer simulation showed that 86 genomic regions were significantly affected by artificial selection. Characterization of 18 major genes known to affect wheat adaptation, yield, and quality revealed that many were affected by artificial selection and contained within regions under selection. Similarly, many reported QTL and genes for yield, quality, and adaptation were also contained in regions affected by artificial selection. These included TaCwi‐A1, TaGw2‐6A, Sus‐2B, TaSus1‐7A, TaSAP1‐7A, Glu‐A1, Glu‐B1, Glu‐B3, PinA, PinB, Ppo‐D1, Psy‐A1, Psy‐A2, Rht‐A1, Rht‐B1, Ppd‐D1, Vrn‐A1, Vrn‐B1, and Cre8. Interestingly, 17 regions affected by artificial selection were in moderate‐to‐high linkage disequilibrium with each other with an average r 2 value of 0.35 indicating strong simultaneous selection on specific alleles. These regions included Glu‐B1, TaGw2‐6A, Cre8, Ppd‐D1, Rht‐B1, Vrn‐B1, TaSus1‐7A, TaSAP1‐7A, and Psy‐A1 plus multiple QTL affecting wheat yield and yield components. These results highlighted the effects of the long‐term artificial selection on Australian wheat germplasm and identified putative regions underlying important traits in wheat.

In this study, differently sized particles of wheat flour (from 52.36 μm to 108.89 μm) were obtained by adjusting the distance between the rolls (0.02, 0.04, 0.06, 0.08, and 0.1 mm) of a heart mill. Results showed that reducing the particle size significantly increased the damaged starch (DS) content. Uniaxial tensile measurement of dough showed that reducing the particle size of wheat flour can effectively increase the maximum tensile resistance, but the extensibility reaches the maximum in samples at medium particle diameter (78 and 66 μm). Additionally, the ratio of dynamic moduli (G″/G′) decreased with a reducing particle size. The results of disulfide bond content, gluten microstructure, showed that finer flour granulation can strengthen the gluten network. The steamed bread (SB) making test showed that SB made from wheat flour of a smaller particle size had a significantly smaller specific volume than that made from a larger particle size. The texture profile analysis showed that with a decrease of wheat flour particle size, the hardness, chewiness of SB increased, the resilience decreased, and there was no significant difference in adhesiveness. Overall, the quality of SB made flour of medium particles (78 μm) is better., This study is to obtain wheat flour of different particle size by adjusting the distance between the milling rolls and to study the effect of different particle sizes of wheat flour on the rheological properties of dough and the quality of steamed bread.

In order to study the effect of the superabsorbent polymer and manure fertilizer on the baking characteristics of wheat cultivars under different water deficit conditions, an experiment was carried out in a factorial layout based on a randomized complete block design in three replications at Agricultural Research Center, West-Azerbaijan (Saatlo station) during 2017-2018 growing seasons. The factors included irrigation at two levels (normal and water stress), superabsorbent polymer: 200 kg ha-1, manure fertilizer: 40 tons ha-1, their dual application and control (non-application fertilizer), and wheat cultivars (Mihan, Heidari and Zarineh). The measured traits included grain yield, wheat grain moisture content, hectoliter weight, flour moisture content, ash content, glutenin, gliadin, dry gluten, gluten index, protein percent, Zeleny number, falling number and protein yield. The results of the analysis of variances showed that the effect of drought stress, superabsorbent and cultivar on the studied traits was significant. Grain yield, protein yield, flour moisture, glutenin, dry gluten, gelatin index and Zeleny number were decreased under drought stress conditions, but the falling number, grain protein and gliadin content were increased. Application of the superabsorbent polymer of chemical and manure fertilizer increased the grain yield, protein yield and gluten index. The highest grain yield (6636.77 kg ha-1) and protein yield (1093.79 kg ha-1), and the lowest hectoliter weight (75.81 kg/100 liters) were obtained from Mihan cultivar. The highest Zeleny number was obtained from the Zarineh cultivar (26.35%) under the conditions involving the dual application of the manure and superabsorbent and the Heidari cultivar (26.32%) with the application of the manure fertilizer. The highest falling number was obtained from Heidari (461.50 seconds). The lowest falling number was obtained from Zarineh (443.73 seconds). The highest correlation was observed between glutenin and gluten indexes (0.97**). To mitigating the reduction of grain and protein yield under drought stress and improve the baking characteristics, such as dry gluten, falling number, glutenin and gluten index, in wheat cultivars, the use of manure and superabsorbent could be effective.

Optimizing the bread-making quality properties of flour is currently one of the main aims of the bakery industry. Therefore, this study has investigated the effects of N fertilization and fungicide application at wheat heading on the protein content (GPC), gluten composition and rheological properties of wheat. Field experiments were carried out in North-West Italy over a 3 year period, on a high protein cultivar of soft winter wheat. Grain samples were collected for each agronomic treatment at four ripening timings, from the milk stage to the final combine harvesting, and the contents of the different gluten fractions were quantified. The late N fertilization increased the GPC (+1.2%) and dough strength (W) (+22%) as a result of a similar enhancement of all the gluten protein fractions, while the fungicide application slightly reduced the GPC (−0.3%) and W (−4%), mainly because of a dilution of the gliadin content, due to the significantly higher grain yield (+8.6%) and thousand kernel weight (+5.5%). These agronomic practices did not modify the gluten composition significantly, expressed as the relative ratio between the gliadins (glia) and the high (HMW) and low (LMW) molecular weight glutenins (gs), and confirmed by the accumulation trend of the different protein fractions during ripening. The year resulted to have the most marked effect on the gluten protein fraction ratios and alveographic parameters. The lowest W was observed in 2015, and although the highest GPC was recorded for the same year, the lowest gs/glia ratio was also observed. Instead, 2016 showed the highest gs/glia and HMW-gs/LMW-gs (H/L) ratios, and also the highest P/L value (2.2). In 2015, a slightly higher temperature during the ripening stage resulted in a greater increase in the γ-gliadin enriched fraction than the α/β gliadin ones, and marked differences were noted in the rheological traits. This field experiment has highlighted the interactive role of environmental and agronomic factors on the content and quality of gluten proteins and their bread-making ability, thus making a further contribution to the development of an integrated crop strategy for the cultivation of high protein wheat in humid Mediterranean areas.

Gliadins are the major components of storage proteins in wheat and play an important role in determining the extensibility properties of dough. In the present work, six novel full-length γ-gliadin genes were cloned from the C genome of Aegilops markgrafii using a PCR-based strategy. Analysis of the deduced amino acid sequences showed that the cloned genes had primary structures that were similar, but not identical, to published γ-gliadins from other wheat-related species. The lengths of the open reading frames (ORFs) ranged from 909 to 963 bp, and the repetitive and glutamine-rich domains were mainly responsible for the size of the proteins. An extra cysteine residue was present in the repetitive domain of sequence JX566513 . All amino acid sequences of γ-gliadin genes from Ae. markgrafii were searched for the five peptides identified as T cell stimulatory epitopes in celiac disease (CD) patients. Peptide Gliγ-3 was present in sequences JX566513 and JX566514 . Peptide Gliγ-5 was present only in JX566513 . The other γ-gliadins contained no toxic epitopes. These results provide information to better understand the use of Ae. markgrafii in wheat breeding and the evolutionary relationship of the γ-gliadin genes in Ae. markgrafii and other Triticeae species.

Two-dimensional gel electrophoresis (2-DGE) was used as a complement to SDS-PAGE to determine the allelic compositions of LMW-GS in 32 Korean wheat cultivars. Protein patterns generated by 2-DGE from each cultivar were compared to patterns from standard wheat cultivars for each allele. At the Glu-A3 locus, thirteen c, twelve d, three e (null), two g and two new alleles were identified. At the Glu-B3 locus, one b, nineteen d, four h, one i and five ad alleles were identified. At the Glu-D3 locus, twenty-three a, four b, four c and one l alleles were identified. When compared to results obtained previously using SDS-PAGE, there were discrepancies in the allelic designations of 10 of 32 cultivars (31%). While SDS-PAGE is a rapid and relatively simple method for assessing LMW-GS composition, the similar mobilities of the proteins makes it difficult to discriminate certain alleles. 2-DGE is a more complicated technique, but provides a more accurate picture of the complement of the LMW-GS in a given cultivar. In addition to providing essential information for wheat breeders, the 2-DGE reference maps generated in this study will make it possible to study the contributions of individual LMW-GS to flour quality.

Рассматриваются основные проблемы хлебопекарного производства. На примере одного из хлебозаводов показаны изменения в структуре затрат на производство белого хлеба за 1999-2019 годы. Анализируются последствия отмены возврата нереализованного хлеба от торговых предприятий, а также причины ухудшения качества пшеничной муки и белого хлеба. Затрагивается проблема повышения рентабельности производства за счет изменения ценовой политики как условия улучшения финансового состояния хлебозаводов и создания предпосылок для инвестиций.

Wheat flour can be allocated for manufacturing various products, but each purpose requires specificities defined by the industrial quality. The objective of this study was to evaluate the performance of experimental lines and commercial cultivars of wheat, in South and Southeast of Brazil and to identify genotypes with favorable characteristics of industrial quality. Twenty lines in the stage of cultivation and use and three commercial cultivars were evaluated for grain yield components (hectoliter weight and thousand-grain weight) and features related to the industrial quality of the flour (protein, flour stability, sedimentation with sodium dodecyl sulfate and color). The genotypes CRX/CD104//ALC, LAJ96010/JSP//ALC and CRX/ALC//ALC showed favorable characteristics for biscuit production, while the genotypes ORL97061/ORL00241//CD104, SUZ6/WEAVER//TUI/3/SUP/4/CD104, ORL99396/ORL97061//SUP, CRX/CD104//ALC, ORL98231/IOR00131//ÔNIX, ORL94346/ALC//AVT/3/ÔNIX, CEP0033/ÔNIX/3/ÔNIX*2//TC14/2*SPEAR, Campo Real/VAN//ÔNIX, ORL97061/CD 104 and PMP/ORL98231//CRX have aptitude for baking. The evaluations were efficient for the classification and selection of genotypes in the wheat breeding program. RESUMO A farinha de trigo pode ser destinada à fabricação de diversos produtos porém para cada finalidade são exigidas especificidades definidas pela qualidade industrial. Objetivou-se, com este estudo, avaliar o desempenho de linhagens experimentais e cultivares comerciais de trigo nas regiões Sul e Sudeste do Brasil e identificar genótipos com características favoráveis à qualidade industrial. Foram avaliadas 20 linhagens em fase de cultivo e uso e três cultivares comerciais. Avaliaram-se os componentes de produtividade de grãos (massa hectolitro e de mil grãos) e as características relacionadas à qualidade industrial da farinha como proteína, estabilidade, sedimentação com dodecil sulfato de sódio e cor. Os genótipos CRX/CD104//ALC, LAJ96010/JSP//ALC e CRX/ALC//ALC exibiram atributos favoráveis à produção de biscoito enquanto os genótipos ORL97061/ORL00241//CD104, SUZ6/WEAVER//TUI/3/SUP/4/CD104, ORL99396/ORL97061//SUP, CRX/CD104//ALC, ORL98231/IOR00131//ÔNIX, ORL94346/ALC//AVT/3/ÔNIX, CEP0033/ÔNIX/3/ÔNIX*2//TC14/2*SPEAR, Campo Real/VAN//ÔNIX, ORL97061/CD 104 e PMP/ORL98231//CRX expressam aptidão para panificação. As avaliações realizadas foram eficientes para classificação e seleção dos genótipos no programa de melhoramento genético da cultura do trigo.

Uprkos brojnim tradicionalnim reološkim metodama koje se već dugi niz godina koriste u proceni kvaliteta brašna, postoji potreba za razvijanjem novih metoda, pomoću kojih bi se za kratko vreme i uz ograničenu količinu uzorka mogao uspešno predvideti kvalitet brašna i gotovog proizvoda. Na taj način selekcionerima bi bila omogućena procena tehnološkog kvaliteta linija pšenice čija je količina ograničena, dok bi se mlinarima obezbedio brz metod procene kvaliteta. Osnovni cilj istraživanja ove disertacije je ispitivanje mogućnosti primene novog reološkog uređaja glutopika u proceni kvaliteta brašna i finalnog proizvoda – hleba, kao i mogućnost zamene tradicionalnih dugotrajnih metoda novom reološkom metodom. Kako bi se ispitale i iskoristile mogućnosti reološkog uređaja glutopik za procenu kvaliteta pšeničnog brašna definisani su optimalni uslovi merenja koji su podrazumevali upotrebu NaCl kao rastvarača i zadate parametre temperature (36 °C), obrtne brzine mešača (2700 rpm) i odnos brašna i rastvarača (8,5/9,5). Zabeležen je veliki broj korelacija između parametara glutopika i empirijskih reoloških pokazatelja kvaliteta brašna i testa. Takođe je utvrđena značajna korelacija između parametara glutopika i indikatora kvaliteta hleba u pogledu specifične zapremine i teksturnih karakteristika sredine hleba. Na osnovu parametara dobijenih merenjem na glutopiku definisane su granične vrednosti. Ustanovljeno je da se primenom glutopik metode može izvršiti klasifikacija sorti pšenice prema kvalitetu. Pored toga, utvrđeno je da glutopik ima veliki potencijal da zameni alveograf u proceni kvaliteta brašna u mlinarskoj i pekarskoj industriji. Reološki parametri koji zavise od sadržaja proteina kao što su moć upijanja vode i žilavost testa uspešno se mogu predvideti pomoću parametara glutopika. Primenom glutopik metode postignuta je umerena predikcija specifične zapremine hleba, dok je postignuta veoma dobra predikcija teksturnih karakteristika sredine hleba. U okviru ove disertacije je ispitan uticaj sorte i lokaliteta na tehnološki kvalitet brašna pšenice kako bi se utvrdilo koja od ispitivanih sorti ispoljava ujednačen kvalitet u različitim mikroklimatskim uslovima tokom dve proizvodne godine. U obe proizvodne godine pokazatelji kvaliteta brašna su dominantno sortno određeni, pri čemu je zabeležen određeni uticaj mikroklimatskih faktora na lokalitetima gajenja. Odličan i najstabilniji kvalitet brašna u 2011. godini je imala sorta Gordana koja je pokazala najveću adaptabilnost na mikroklimatske uslove. Apač je uniformno imao najlošiji kvalitet duž svih ispitivanih lokaliteta. Domaće sorte su u 2012. godini imale promenljiv kvalitet u zavisnosti od lokaliteta gajenja. Hlebove proizvedene od domaćih pšeničnih sorti je karakterisala velika zapremina, rastresita struktura sredine sa izraženim velikim porama i mala čvrstoća sredine, dok je hleb proizveden od sorte Apač imao malu zapreminu, zbijenu strukturu sredine hleba sa velikim brojem malih pora kao posledicu velike čvrstoće. Dobra predikcija kvaliteta hleba od brašna iz 2011. godine je postignuta primenom jednog reološkog pokazatelja kvaliteta, dok je za uspešnu predikciju kvaliteta hleba od brašna iz 2012. godine neophodno izvesti nekoliko različitih reoloških merenja. Analizom tehnološkog kvaliteta brašna pšenice različitih sorti gajenih na različitim lokalitetima iz tri proizvodne godine zabeležene su velike varijacije u kvalitetu brašna i hleba na ispitivanim lokalitetima i u proizvodnim godinama, što jasno ukazuje na značajan uticaj interakcija između sortimenta i uslova gajenja (lokaliteta i godina), kao i značaj ispitivanja ovih interakcija i razvoja strategija koje imaju za cilj smanjenje uticaja spoljašnjih faktora na kvalitet pšenice. Regardless the fact that numerous traditional rheological methods have been used for many years in the flour quality assessment, there is a need for developing new methods, which could, in a short time, and with a limited amount of sample, successfully predict the quality of flour and finished products. In this way, wheat breeders would be able to evaluate the technological quality of the wheat lines with a restricted sample quantity, while the millers would be provided with a quick method of the quality evaluation. The main goal of the research of this dissertation was to examine the possibility of using a new rheological device GlutoPeak in the quality evaluation of flour and final product – bread, as well as the possibility of replacing traditional time-consuming methods with a new rheological test. In order to examine the possibility of using a GlutoPeak rheological device for the flour quality evaluation, the optimal measurement conditions were defined and included the use of NaCl as a solvent, the rotational speed of the mixer (2700 rpm), temperature (36 °C), the ratio of flour and solvent (8.5/9.5). Numerous correlations between GlutoPeak indices and empirical rheological parameters of dough behaviour were reported in this study. Significant correations were also observed between GlutoPeak parameters and bread specific volume and breadcrumb textural properties. The limit values were defined according to the GlutoPeak parameters values. Moreover, it was found that the GlutoPeak test could be used for wheat variety diferentiation according to the quality and has a great potential to replace Alveograph in the flour quality assessment in the milling and bakery industries. Parameters which depends on the protein content, such as, flour water absorption and dough tenacity, was successfully predicted by using parameters derived from GlutoPeak tester. A moderate prediction of loaf specific volume was achieved, while a very good prediction of breadcrumb textural characteristics was accomplished with the GlutoPeak parameters. In addition, the influence of genotype and growing location on flour quality was examined in order to determine which of the tested varieties exhibited uniform quality accross different microclimatic conditions in two production years. It was revealed that in both production years flour quality indicators were predominantly influenced by genotype, with a certain influence of microclimate factors on the growing locations. Gordana variety showed excellent and uniform quality with the highest adaptability to microclimate conditions in year 2011. Apache variety showed uniformly poor quality across all tested locations. In year 2012 domestic varieties exhibited variable quality depending on the growing locations. Bread produced from domestic wheat varieties was characterized by a large volume, loose breadcrumb structure with pronounced large pores and low hardness, while the bread produced from Apache variety had a small volume, dense breadcrumb structure with a large number of small pores as a result of high breadcrumb hardness. The quality of bread produced from wheat flour from year 2011 was well predicted based on one rheological quality parameter. On the other hand, several different rheological measurements was performed to successfully predict the quality of bread produced from wheat flour from 2012 year. By analyzing the technological quality of wheat flour of different varieties cultivated at different locations from three production years, large variations in the quality of flour and bread was recorded. The variations in flour and bread quality indicated the significant influence of interactions between the variety and growing conditions (locations and years), as well as the importance of examining these interactions and developing strategies aimed at reducing the impact of external factors on wheat quality.

The objective of this study was to investigate variation and trends in dough rheological properties and flour quality traits in 330 Chinese wheat varieties. The dough rheological properties of development time (DT), stability time (ST), and farinograph quality number (FQN) were evaluated, as well as the flour quality traits of protein (PC), wet gluten content (WGC), and sedimentation value (SV). The coefficients of variation of DT (40.5%), ST (58.1%), and FQN (42.4%) were higher than those of PC (9.1%), WGC (10.1%), and SV (15.3%). Normal distributions were observed for the flour quality indices but not for the rheological parameters. SV was strongly correlated with the three rheological parameters and accordingly might be used as a primary indicator for dough rheological property evaluation. Our results showed that there has been marked improvement in dough rheological properties for Chinese wheat varieties released since 1986, while flour quality has remained stable.

Glu-1Ay, one of six genes encoding a high molecular weight glutenin subunit (HMW-GS), is frequently silenced in hexaploid common wheat. Here, an active allele of Glu-1Ay was integrated from wild emmer wheat (Triticum turgidum ssp. dicoccoides) accession D97 into the common wheat (Triticum aestivum) cultivar Chuannong 16 via the repeated self-fertilization of the pentaploid interspecific hybrid, culminating in the selection of a line TaAy7-40 shown to express the wild emmer Glu-1Ay allele. The open reading frame of this allele was a 1830 bp long sequence, demonstrated by its heterologous expression in Escherichia coli to encode a 608-residue polypeptide. Its nucleotide sequence was 99.2% identical to that of the sequence within the wild emmer parent. The TaAy7-40 introgression line containing the active Glu-1Ay allele showed higher protein content, higher sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) sedimentation value, higher content of wet gluten in the flour, higher grain weight, and bigger grain size than Chuannong 16. The end-use quality parameters of the TaAy7-40 were superior to those of the medium gluten common wheat cultivars Mianmai 37 and Neimai 9. Thus, the active Glu-1Ay allele might be of potential value in breeding programs designed to improve wheat flour quality.

Foram avaliados o rendimento de grãos, a estabilidade e adaptabilidade ambiental, a tolerância ao alumínio tóxico e a qualidade tecnológica da farinha de vinte genótipos de trigo em três regiões tritícolas do Estado de São Paulo (Zonas A e B, sequeiro; Zona H, com irrigação por aspersão), no biênio 1994-95. Os resultados mostraram que: (a) os genótipos tiveram comportamento regional diferenciado quanto ao rendimento de grãos; (b) os genótipos IAC 289, IAC 340 e BR 18 mostraram-se, em média os mais produtivos, não diferindo do 'IAC 304', 'OCEPAR 14', 'IAC 350', 'Panda', 'IAC 60' e 'IAC 348'; (c) os genótipos apresentaram, em geral, boa estabilidade produtiva nas diferentes condições ambientais; (d) os genótipos IAC 289, IAC 340 e IAC 304 foram responsivos à melhoria ambiental e 'IAC 227', adaptado a ambientes desfavoráveis; (e) os genótipos IAC 24, IAC 120, IAC 227, OCEPAR 14, IAC 348, Panda, BR 18, IAC 319, IAC 346, IAPAR 60, IAC 332 e IAC 347 foram tolerantes à toxicidade de Al3+; (f) a farinha dos diferentes genótipos apresentou baixa atividade amilásica; (g) os genótipos IAC 340, IAC 227, IAC 319 e IAC 60 propiciaram farinha com baixos valores de W (energia de deformação da massa) e baixa estabilidade, características próprias de farinha de glúten fraco. Os demais genótipos revelaram característica de glúten forte. Twenty wheat genotypes were evaluated in three different wheat regions in the State of São Paulo, Brazil (Zones A and B - upland conditions, and Zone H - sprinkler irrigation) during the 1994-95 season. Grain yield stability and adaptability, tolerance to aluminum toxicity and flour quality parameters were determined. The results showed: a) the genotypes exhibited different regional behavior in relation to grain yield; b) the genotypes IAC 289, IAC 340 and BR 18 displayed the highest grain yields, considering all experiments, and they did not differ from 'IAC 304', 'OCEPAR 14', 'IAC 350', 'Panda', 'IAC 60' and 'IAC 348'; c) the majority of the genotypes showed no significant regression deviation (S²d) values, therefore they did not display diversity when grouped; d) 'IAC 289', 'IAC 340' and 'IAC 304' were responsive to favorable environments (b > 1) and 'IAC 227' was responsive to unfavorable environments (b < 1); e) the genotypes IAC 24, IAC 120, IAC 227, OCEPAR 14, IAC 348, Panda, BR 18, IAC 319, IAC 346, IAPAR 60, IAC 332 and IAC 347 were considered tolerant to Al3+ toxicity; f) the flour of the genotypes showed low amylase activity; g) the flour of the genotypes IAC 340, IAC 227, IAC 319 and IAC 60 had low W (dough deformation energy) values and low stability, characteristics of weak gluten flour. The other genotypes showed strong gluten characteristics.

High pre-harvest rainfall in 2006 caused significant pre-harvest sprouting (PHS) and weathering throughout the mid-Atlantic soft red winter wheat (SRWW) (Triticum aestivum L.) growing region. Sprouting and weathering caused decreased flour quality due to lowered dough viscosity and decreased ability to withstand mixing and processing for baked goods. Due to its decreased quality, severely sprouted grain is sold for feed, at a lower price per bushel. Pre-harvest sprouting negatively affects the chain of production from the field to baking operations. The purpose of this research was to evaluate the inherent dormancy and PHS resistance, of current SRWW cultivars and to assess the relationship between falling number and flour quality after grain weathering. Employing a weighted germination index (WGI), a large range in dormancy was observed across SRWW cultivars and seed production. Artificial weathering tests confirmed the use of WGI as a tool for screening for dormancy of SRWW cultivars. The WGI consistently identified cultivars with significantly higher or lower inherent dormancy. "Coker 9553" was highly dormant and resistant to PHS. This cultivar maintained an average falling number of 300 seconds even after receiving an average of 215 mm of rainfall, while the mean falling number for all SRWW cultivars after this amount of weathering was 131 seconds. After only moderate weathering, nine of 15 SRWW cultivars in the study exhibited severe sprouting, demonstrating the need for increased PHS resistance in SRWW wheat. Pre-harvest sprouting resistance groupings, based on average 2008 cultivar falling number were accurately predicted by WGI at both 10 (R2=0.79) and 30°C (R2=0.72) No consistent relationship was observed between head angle, glume tenacity or awn length and PHS resistance. Water absorption, dough stability, farinograph arrival and departure times, peak, and 20-minute drop were measured from grain samples with varying degrees of weathering. All parameters were negatively affected by weathering in 2008. Flour quality parameters were more affected by genotype than falling number suggesting that falling number should not be used as the sole indicator of flour quality after grain weathering. It is clear that there are vast differences in dormancy levels and PHS resistance among SRWW cultivars and stronger dormancy and higher resistance to PHS does not automatically ensure higher quality flour. Master of Science

Light and scanning electron microscopy have been used as a part of a research program designed to study the influence of flour quality and processing variables on three of the noodle types that are popular in South East Asia . The noodles selected for study were Cantonese, Hokkien and modern instant. They represent the range of cooking and processing variables that are commonly encountered in these products . Flour particle size and the choice of alkaline ingredients influence protein development during the sheeting process . A continuous protein matrix is required in t he raw noodle if it is to have good eating quality when cooked. The swelling of the starch granules during cooking disrupts the protein matrix and the extent of this disruption at the surface of the noodle is related to surface stickiness and cooking loss.