Rapid Determination of Dough Optimum Mixing Time for Early Generation Wheat Breeding Lines Using FT‐HATR Infrared Spectroscopy

Abstract

The traditional method in the United States for screening hard winter wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) breeding lines is based on the optimum mixing time (MT), an important rheological property of a wheat flour–water (dough) system typically obtained from the mixograph. This method is time consuming and requires some degree of subjective interpretation, especially with regard to mixing tolerance. The purpose of this study was to investigate the potential of Fourier transform horizontal attenuated total reflectance (FT‐HATR) spectroscopy to objectively predict optimum MT in doughs from a short‐duration mixing cycle (1 min). A total of 55 hard winter wheat flours with varying protein contents and MTs were scanned in the amide III region of the mid‐infrared by FT‐HATR immediately after being mixed 1 min with a mixograph. Regression analysis of the ratio of the band areas at 1336 cm−1 (α‐helix) and 1242 cm−1 (β sheet) versus optimum MT as determined by the mixograph showed a quadratic response with an R2 value of 0.81. Results from this study indicate that optimum MT could be predicted early in the mixing process based on changes in the secondary structure of the dough protein (gluten). This method could provide the basis for new technology to rapidly and accurately screen wheat samples in early generation breeding lines, thus saving considerable time and expense in the development of new cultivars.