Biochemical characterization of spring wheats in relation to grain hardness

Abstract

Grain hardness is arguably the single most important determinant of wheat grain quality and utilization and forms the basis of differentiating world trade of wheat grain. The present study was carried out to determine the texture of spring wheats using starch granule-associated friabilin, a 15kDa protein, as biochemical marker and their relationship with other hardness methods, chemical and quality parameter. Kernel texture estimated by near infrared reflectance (HNIR), pearling value (PV) and particle size index (PSI) ranged from 63.83-71.33, 63.00-84.88, and 16.33-29.33, respectively. Most of the spring wheat varieties fall in the category of medium hard possessing faint friabilin band. HNIR positively correlated with water absorption (r = 0.90) and zeleny value (r = 0.38), while negatively related with cookies spread factor (r = -0.58). Friabilin did not correlate with any quality parameter while relationship between other methods of hardness and quality parameters were observed.