Cereal Chem 66:448-456   |  VIEW ARTICLE

Prediction of Baking Quality of Bread Wheats in Breeding Programs by Size-Exclusion High- Performance Liquid Chromatography.

T. Dachkevitch and J.-C. Autran. Copyright 1989 by the American Association of Cereal Chemists, Inc. 

Extracts of unreduced protein of wheat flour were analyzed by size-exclusion high-performance liquid chromatography. Four chromatographic fractions corresponding to different sizes of aggregates and monomers were separated from phosphate-sodium dodecyl sulfate extracts. Experimental conditions, automating sampling, and computer assistance were investigated for improving reproducibility and automation of the system and discrimination between quality classes. A three-year experiment on a large number of breeding lines grown in different locations demonstrated that this chromatographic method has potential for assessing baking quality in breeding programs. The analysis that could be used for predictive purposes was mainly based on molecular weight distribution between excluded peak (F1) and intermediate aggregates (F2), which is essentially variety dependent and very highly correlated with baking quality data. The best indicator of the potential baking strength of genotypes (measured by alveograph W index, mixograph index, or gluten viscoelasticity) was generally the F1/F2 ratio, whereas loaf volume in French baking technology was more likely to depend on the amount of the F2 fraction. However, the prediction equation of baking strength must be calibrated from samples of each new crop year, and the prediction may be improved by taking into account both the F1/F2 ratio and the percentage (Fi) of proteins insoluble in the phosphate-sodium dodecyl sulfate buffer.