Evaluation of white-grained wheat in Hungary

Abstract

Most cultivated wheat varieties belong either to the redor white-grained type. Compared to red wheat varieties, white wheat has many advantages for the milling industry, such as high flour extraction rate and greater fibre content because of closer milling. Also, it has some aesthetic advantages, such as whiter flour, while the products are less raw flavoured than those made from red wheat (Chang and Chambers 1992). In addition, the bran of white grain can be considered as a useful by-product that is widely used in the snack industry. These nutritional parameters make white wheat suitable for processing in healthy food production. According to Varallyay (2006) healthy food and sustainable land management are closely related. In developed countries, white wheat has been increasingly used to make high fibre food products (Bequette and Herrman 1994). All the wheat varieties cultivated in Hungary belong to the red type. However, growing white wheat would potentially help to meet the special demand for healthy food with high fibre content and nutritional value. Besides the favourable nutritional effects mentioned above, however there are some disadvantages of growing white wheat. White genotypes are highly susceptible to preharvest sprouting (PHS) caused by rain before harvesting. This could result deterioration in quality parameters, such as falling number and bread volume (Huang and Varriano-Marston 1980, Pepo et al. 2005, Gut and Bichonski 2004). There is a positive relationship between the kernel colour and resistance to PHS (Wang et al. 1999). Red-grained genotypes are generally resistant, while white ones are susceptible to PHS. In some cases the white and red-grained cultivars can hardly be distinguished visually. Some light-red or white genotypes may show the opposite phenotypes as a consequence of various environmental stresses (McCaig et al. 1993). Thus, determining the genetically determined seed colour is of special importance, as these two types require different milling and baking techniques (Dowell 1998). To date, chemical methods have been developed for determining grain colour (De Pauw and McCaig 1988, Ram et al. 2002). The aim of this study was to evaluate the competitiveness of the white-grained Martonvasar breeding lines identified by routine grain screening during the breeding process.