Possibilities of using near infrared reflectance/transmittance spectroscopy for determination of polymeric protein in wheat

Abstract

AbstractPossibilities of using near‐infrared reflectance and near‐infrared transmittance (NIR/NIT) spectroscopic techniques for detecting differences in amount and size distribution of polymeric proteins in wheat were investigated. To evaluate whether differences in polymeric protein due to genetic or environmental variations were detectable by NIR/NIT techniques, wheat materials of different background were used. Size‐exclusion high‐performance liquid chromatography was applied to detect variation in polymeric protein. Partial least squares regression gave high R2 values between many protein parameters and NIR/NIT spectra (particularly second‐derivative spectra of NIR 1100–2500 nm region) of flours, while no such relationship was found for whole wheat grains. Most and highest correlations were found for total amount of extractable and unextractable proteins and monomer/polymer protein ratio. Some positive relationships were found between percentage of total unextractable polymeric protein in the total polymeric protein and percentage of large unextractable polymeric protein in the total large polymeric protein and NIR/NIT spectra. Thus, it was possible to detect differences in polymeric proteins with NIR/NIT techniques. The highest amount of positive correlations between NIR/NIT spectra and protein parameters was found to be due to environmental influences. Some correlations were found for breeding lines with a broad variation in gluten strength and polymeric protein composition, while a more homogeneous sample showed less correlation. Thereby, detection of variation in amount and size distribution of polymeric protein due to cultivar differences with NIR/NIT methods might be difficult. Copyright © 2007 Society of Chemical Industry