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Tetraploid Wheat—A Resource for Genetic Improvement of Durum Wheat Quality¹

¹Presented in part at the 48th Australian Cereal Chemistry Conference, Cairns, 17–20 August 1998. ²NSW Agriculture, Tamworth Centre for Crop Improvement, RMB 944 Tamworth NSW 2340, Australia; and Quality Wheat CRC Limited, Locked Bag 1345 North Ryde, NSW 1670 Australia. ³Corresponding author. Phone: 61 267 631 119, Fax: 61 267 631 222, E-mail: mike.sissons@agric.nsw.gov.au

The tetraploid relatives (subspecies) of commercial durum wheat (Triticum turgidum L. subsp. turgidum conv. durum (Desf.) MacKey) offer a source of economically useful genes for the genetic improvement of durum cultivars. Tetraploid wheat subspecies show a wide diversity in grain protein composition and content, which are major factors determining the pasta-making quality of durum cultivars. In this study, the specific focus was the identification of accessions expressing one or more superior pasta-making traits. In all, 33 accessions were surveyed representing five different subspecies; var. durum (13 accessions), polonicum (7 accessions), persicum (3 accessions), turanicum (6 accessions), and turgidum (4 accessions). These accessions and the durum cultivars Wollaroi and Kamilaroi (in both years) and Yallaroi (in 1998 only) were grown at Tamworth, Australia in 1997 and 1998. Grain, semolina, and spaghetti cooking quality were evaluated using a range of tests. Several accessions were identified with larger grain size and protein content and higher semolina extraction. Although many of the accessions were weaker in dough strength, a few were equal to the commercial cultivars and produced pasta of comparable quality. The main disadvantage with these accessions was the low yellow color. These quality defects can be corrected by conventional breeding.