The flour, dough and baking quality analyses of ten winter wheat and ten spring wheat varieties were studied. The allelic composition of the glutenin genes was identified using functional DNA markers of two types: STS markers and SNP markers based on competitive allele-specific PCR (KASP assay).
METK’s researchers found that spring wheat varieties outperformed winter wheat varieties in key quality characteristics such as protein content, wet gluten content, gluten index, and dough stability time. Protein content was positively correlated with loaf volume and wet gluten content in both wheat types.
Dough's viscoelastic properties are associated with glutenin subunits, and DNA marker analysis revealed that all varieties had the Glu-D1d allele, while fourteen varieties carried Glu-A1a and b alleles linked to better baking quality. However, the presence of null alleles in some varieties is connected to lower quality and may pose challenge in bread baking.
Our results provide an overview of relationships between HMW-GS and LMW-GS and baking quality which has not been studied this way in the wheat varieties grown in Estonia and nearby regions.
Article authors:
Riinu Kaasik
Junior Research Fellow
Dr Anne Ingver
Senior Researcher, Wheat Breeder
Dr Reine Koppel
Senior Researcher, Wheat Breeder
Marina Tikhonova
Researcher
