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Flour Pasting Properties of Wild-Type and Partial Waxy Soft Wheats in Relation to Growing Environment-Induced Fluctuations in Starch Characteristics

¹Department of Food Science and Technology, University of Nebraska, Lincoln, NE 68583-0919. ²Department of Food Science and Toxicology, University of Idaho, P.O Box 442312, Moscow, ID 83844. ³USDA-ARS Soft Wheat Quality Laboratory, Wooster, OH 44691. ⁴Corresponding author. Phone: 208-885-4661. Fax: 208-885-2567. E-mail: huberk@uidaho.edu

To relate growing environment-induced differences in wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) flour pasting properties with fluctuations in starch characteristics, starch characteristics of flours milled from wild-type and partial waxy wheat genotypes grown at two diverse locations (irrigated vs. rainfed) over two successive crop years (2000, 2001) were analyzed. The crop year or growing location that possessed the highest peak and breakdown viscosity values exhibited the highest mean flour total starch (FTS) content, while that exhibiting the highest trough, final, and setback viscosities possessed the highest mean A-type granule content. Correlation analysis across growing environments provided additional evidence for associations between flour pasting properties and flour/starch characteristics. Fluctuations in mean FTS content were associated with flour peak (r = 0.95) and breakdown (r = 0.93) viscosity differences, while variability in A-type granule content was strongly correlated with fluctuations in trough (r = 0.82), final (r = 0.96), and setback (r = 0.99) viscosities. Peak viscosity was also negatively correlated with total (r = -0.78) and lipid-complexed (r = -0.72) amylose contents. Of the flour/starch characteristics measured, variability in FTS and A/B-type granule contents best explained growing environment-induced fluctuations in flour pasting properties.