Cereal Chem 61:228 - 231.  |  VIEW ARTICLE
Alpha-Amylase Activity in Wheat Kernels Matured and Germinated Under Different Temperature Conditions.

L. V. Reddy, T. M. Ching, and R. J. Metzger. Copyright 1984 by the American Association of Cereal Chemists, Inc. 

Wheat cultivars Hyslop, Yamhill PI 178211, Brevor, and Tom Thumb were grown in growth chambers at 15.5 and 26.6 C, and in the field, where temperatures ranged from 15.5 to 20.5 C during the grain-filling period. Mature kernels harvested from these environments were germinated at 15.5, 20, and 29.5 C. Endosperm alpha-amylase activity during maturation and germination was analyzed. Alpha-amylase activity during maturation varied with temperature. At 15.5 C, the activity peaked 20 days after anthesis, then gradually decreased. Activity in the field-grown material was intermediate and graduially decreased with maturity. At 26 C, the activity was lowest. Cultivars varied quantitatively, but a general trend persisted. An inverse relationship between alpha-amylase activity and kernel weight was observed within and among cultivars. During germination in the growth chambers, activity was highest at 15.5 C, but in field-grown kernels, activity was highest at 20 C . Kernels of cultivars PI 178211, Brevor, and Tom Thumb grown at 15.5 C were consistently low in alpha-amylase activity during maturation and germination.