Allelic Variation at Glutenin Loci (Glu-1, Glu-2 and Glu-3) in a Worldwide Durum Wheat Collection and Its Effect on Quality Attributes

Durum wheat grains (Triticum turgidum L. ssp. durum) are the main source for the production of pasta, bread and a variety of products consumed worldwide. The quality of pasta is mainly defined by the rheological properties of gluten, an elastic network in wheat endosperms formed of gliadins and glutenins. In this study, the allelic variation at five glutenin loci was analysed in 196 durum wheat genotypes. Two loci (Glu-A1 and Glu-B1), encoding for high-molecular-weight glutenin subunits (HMW-GS), and three loci (Glu-B2, Glu-A3 and Glu-B3), encoding for low molecular weight glutenin subunits (LMW-GS), were assessed by SDS-PAGE. The SDS-sedimentation test was used and the grain protein content was evaluated. A total of 32 glutenin subunits and 41 glutenin haplotypes were identified. Four novel alleles were detected. Fifteen haplotypes represented 85.7% of glutenin loci variability. Some haplotypes carrying the 7 + 15 and 7 + 22 banding patterns at Glu-B1 showed a high gluten strength similar to those that carried the 7 + 8 or 6 + 8 alleles. A decreasing trend in grain protein content was observed over the last 85 years. Allelic frequencies at the three main loci (Glu-B1, Glu-A3 and Glu-B3) changed over the 1915–2020 period. Gluten strength increased from 1970 to 2020 coinciding with the allelic changes observed. These results offer valuable information for glutenin haplotype-based selection for use in breeding programs.

Influence of wheat conditioning duration on the technological qualities of flour

Wheat is amongst the most consumed cereals in the world. Triticum aestivum is the most produced and consumed species of wheat in the form of refined flours, a result of grinding and sifting the grain. To obtain a lighter form of flour with fewer bran flakes, water is added to the wheat grains. The added water conditions the wheat grains by adjusting humidity, thus making the endosperm more friable and the bran more malleable. This study aimed to analyze the influence of the duration of wheat conditioning on the resulting flour’s technological characteristics, using time periods of 13, 15, 17, 19, and 21 hours. The extraction rates, color, ash, humidity, gluten, falling number, and alveography of each flour sample were analyzed. The acquired results exhibit an insignificant difference (p ≤ 0.05) in flours with different conditioning times for gluten, falling number, color (L*), ash content, and humidity. However, there was a significant difference (p ≤0.05) in extraction rate, gluten strength (W), as well as in tenacity and the extensibility ratio (P/L). Thus, 17 hours was discovered as the best conditioning durations, although a 13-hour conditioning could be used by companies who believe that the benefits outweigh the costs.

Development of a new bread type supplemented iron and folic acid– Chemical and technological characterization

Bread is a staple food prepared by baking a dough of flour and water. The virtually infinite combinations of different flours and differing proportions of ingredients has resulted in the wide variety of types, shapes, sizes, and textures available around the world. Considering the worldwide consume of this staple food, this study aimed to develop and assess the chemical and technological characteristics of a new biofortified blend, containing wheat, locust bean flours, iron and folic acid (applied in the form of powder or microcapsules), for the production of bread with nutritional and prophylactic characteristics for human health. Besides bread wheat properties for baking, locust wheat flours was added to the blend in a small amount (0.5%) to increase water absorbance through its polar amino groups of proteins, whereas folic acid and iron inclusion considered the human needs on a daily basis. An 85.89- and 3.93-fold increases for folic acid and iron was carried out through fortification. It was found that, relatively to wheat flour T65, the contents of some minerals (Ca, K, Si), fatty acids (C16:0, C16:1, C18:0, C18:1; C20:1) and sugars (raffinose, sucrose, glucose and fructose) were significantly higher in locust bean flour. Upon blends iron and folic acid fortification, toughness, deformation work / gluten strength and the elasticity index prevailed when powder was used, whereas minimum values were obtained for ash, toughness and gluten strength in the standard blend. Moreover, significant differences were not found for fatty acids. In bread biofortified with folic and iron in the form of powder, all fatty acids (excepting C18:2 and C18:3) prevailed, but lower values were found for sugars and total soluble solids. Moreover, breads height, weight, specific volume remained higher in standard bread, but upon application of benzoic acid or methyl 4-hydroxybenzoate lower shelf life values were found. Although from a hedonic perspective, consumers preferred the standard bread, the biofortified blend revealed a high-quality index suitable for development of a functional staple food incorporating iron and folic acid (in the form of powder or microcapsules). Nevertheless, folic acid as proved to be highly labile during baking, but incorporation of microcapsules slightly limited this degradation. Considering the shelf life of the biofortified bread, pulverization with methyl p-hydroxybenzoate seemed to be the most effective additive.