Analysis of granulometric composition of starch in collection samples of winter triticale

Abstract

Purpose. To study the granulometric composition of starch in grain of collection samples of winter triticale (Triticosecale Wittm.) and to identify forms with minimal variation in the size of starch granules for further creation of source material when breeding varieties being optimal for starch and bioethanol production. Methods. The studies were carried out in 2016, 2017 at the department of breeding and seed production of grain crops of the NSC “Institute of Agriculture of NAAS” with 142 collection samples, varieties and breeding lines of hexaploid winter triticale and 22 samples of bread winter wheat (as a control) grown in breeding crop rotation of the Institute in individual experiment on uniform agrotechnical background. The granulometric structure of starch was investigated by light microscopy of milled triticale grains in combination with digital image analysis. For data processing, parametric methods of variation statistics, regression and factor analysis were used using licensed programs Microsoft Office Excel 2007 and StatSoft STATISTICA 8.0.360. Results. The analysis of 164 samples of triticale and wheat by the size of starch granules showed the variability of this trait. The most of the samples had variation coefficient in the range of 12–30 %. In triticale, the average granule size was maximal in the line 244/16 (24.20 µm), and minimal one was in the Yasha variety (15.79 µm). In the samples studied, the size of the most of the granules was 16–22 μm, but size distribution within the sampling was uneven. The least variability was found in the line 145/16 (10.97 %), the most one in the line 181/16 (37.56 %). Conclusions. A significant difference between winter triticale by starch granule size within the species, between individual lines and varieties was established. The minimum coefficient of variation of the starch granules size was in samples with the least average size. The lines 202, 206 and 220 are recommended as sources in breeding triticale varieties to produce starch for technical purposes, and the varieties Petrol, Yasha and Mundo for the alcohol-distillate direction of the technological use of grain.