Abstract
Development of biofortified wheat lines has emerged as a sustainable solution to alleviate malnutrition. However, for these varieties to be successful, it is important that they meet the minimum quality criteria required to produce the local food products. In the present study, a set of 94 biofortified common wheat lines were analyzed for their grain micronutrients content (Fe and Zn) and for their processing quality and glutenin profile. Most of the analyzed lines exhibited a grain Zn concentration greater than the non-biofortified check varieties, of at least 3 ppm. The content of both Fe and Zn appeared to be significantly associated with grain protein content (r = 0.21 to 0.65; p < 0.01) but not with grain yield or other wheat quality traits. Wide allelic variation was observed at both the high-molecular-weight glutenin (HMW-GS) and the low-molecular-weight glutenin (LMW-GS) loci and alleles associated with greater dough strength were identified. Specifically, among the HMW-GS alleles, the Glu-B1i, Glu-B1al and Glu-D1d alleles were associated with greater mixograph and alveograph values and greater loaf volume. Similarly, among the LMW-GS alleles, the Glu-A3b and Glu-B3b were associated with stronger gluten and better bread-making quality. Overall, results of this study suggest that biofortification does not profoundly alter wheat end-use quality and that the effect of the different glutenin alleles is independent of the grain protein and micronutrient content.
Highlights
Wheat is one of the most important food crop in the world and it currently provides ≈20% of the daily dietary energy and protein (Shewry and Hey, 2015)
The analysis showed the presence of significant variation among the lines within each set
Even if significant differences could be observed for the different traits across the years, overall, the two sets of lines analyzed during the 2017–2018 and 2018–2019 cycles showed comparable average values for the parameters studied
Summary
Wheat is one of the most important food crop in the world and it currently provides ≈20% of the daily dietary energy and protein (Shewry and Hey, 2015). Wheat represents a good source of essential micronutrients such as iron (Fe) and zinc (Zn) Deficiency of these micronutrients is common, especially in developing countries where cereal-based foods represent the major daily caloric intake. This condition is mainly determined by the poor consumption of other micronutrient-rich food such as meat, fish, fruits and vegetables. For this reason, development of genetically biofortified wheat varieties with enhanced micronutrient concentrations, has emerged as a sustainable solution to alleviate malnutrition (Velu et al, 2012).
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