THE ROLE OF TRITICUM CARTHLICUM IN THE ORIGIN OF BREAD WHEAT BASED ON COMPARATIVE MILLING AND BAKING PROPERTIES

Abstract

To determine whether Triticum carthlicum Nevski (2n = 28 = AABB) could have been the donor of the AABB tetraploid component to hexaploid wheat (2n = 42 = AABBDD), several milling and baking properties of this tetraploid were compared with those of Tetra Canthatch, the AABB tetraploid extracted from the high quality bread wheat cv. Canthatch. The same comparisons were also made between synthetic hexaploids produced from T. carthlicum and Aegilops squarrosa L. (2n = 14 = DD) and synthetics produced from Tetra Canthatch and the same strains of Ae. squarrosa. Overall, the milling and baking properties of T. carthlicum were similar to those of Tetra Canthatch. The range of variability of each quality characteristic among synthetic hexpaloids derived from T. carthlicum was similar to that among those produced from Tetra Canthatch. These comparative results indicate that T. carthlicum adequately substitutes for Tetra Canthatch with respect to the milling and baking properties evaluated in this study. Consequently, from this standpoint, T. carthlicum cannot be rejected as a possible source of the AABB component of common bread wheat, nor does the evidence exclude the hypothesis that this tetraploid is merely a segregate from a common hexaploid wheat — tetraploid wheat hybrid.