Correlation Analysis between Quality Indexes of Wheat and Physicochemical Properties of Wheat meal

Abstract

<abstract> <bold>Abstract.</bold> Relationship between wheat quality indexes and physicochemical properties of wheat meal was studied to offer a useful reference for feed processing. Quality indexes and physicochemical properties of 59 wheat cultivars from 7 major wheat growing provinces and municipalities of China were determined and their correlations were analyzed. The present study indicates that there are strong correlations for quality indexes of wheat. Crude protein content of wheat presented significant positive correlation with crude ash content(r=0.518***, P<0.001), crude acid detergent fiber (CADF) content and crude neutral detergent fiber (CNDF) content (r=0.349**, 0.344** respectively, P<0.01), but a negative correlation with bulk density (r=-0.399**, P<0.01). High and significant positive correlations between crude ash content (r=0.611***, P<0.001), CADF (r=0.446***, P<0.001) and CNDF were found. In physicochemical properties of wheat meal, significant negative relations between peak viscosity(r=-0.285*, P<0.05), trough viscosity (r=-0.318*, P<0.05) and particle size of wheat meal were observed. Specific heat showed a significant positive correlation with particle size (P<0.05). The coefficients of correlation (r) between peak viscosity, trough viscosity and final viscosity were exceed 0.97 (P<0.001). Crude protein content (P<0.01), Crude ash content (P<0.001) and CNDF content (P<0.01) of wheat were negatively and significantly correlated with pasting properties of wheat meal. Bulk density and CADF content showed low but significant correlations with pasting properties (P<0.05). Particle size presented significant positive correlations with crude fat content and crude ash content (r=0.524***, 0.462*** respectively, P<0.001). It was noteworthy that specific heats of wheat meal at different temperatures were positively and significantly correlated with crude ash content (P<0.001). There were not remarkable correlation between pasting properties and crude fat content. In addition, specific heat had no significant correlation with crude protein content.