Publication no. C-2004-0602-07R |  VIEW ARTICLE

Use of Size-Exclusion High-Performance Liquid Chromatography for Wheat Quality Prediction in Ethiopia.

M. T. Labuschagne (1,2), E. Koen (1), and T. Dessalegn (1). (1) Department of Plant Sciences, University of the Free State, P.O. Box 339, Bloemfontein, 9300, South Africa. (2) Corresponding author. E-mail: <labuscm@sci.uovs.ac.za> Cereal Chem. 81(4):533-537. Accepted January 28, 2004. Copyright 2004 American Association of Cereal Chemists, Inc.

Wheat quality testing facilities in Ethiopia are limited. The aim of this study was to determine whether size-exclusion high-performance liquid chromatography (SE-HPLC) could be used in breeding programs for quality testing. Thirteen Ethiopian and two South African wheat cultivars were evaluated in two diverse environments for milling and dough characteristics. SE-HPLC was done on the same samples. Across environments, both SDS-soluble and SDS-insoluble polymeric proteins significantly influenced important quality characteristics such as SDS-sedimentation and mixograph development time. The large monomeric proteins, which are mainly gliadins, had a consistently significantly negative effect on quality. The increase of polymeric protein as opposed to monomeric protein led to improvement of quality characteristics. The SDS-soluble and SDS-insoluble polymeric proteins were equally important in quality prediction. The amount of polymeric proteins was significantly higher in the high-protein environment. Despite a large environmental effect on most fractions, a large ratio of polymeric proteins to monomeric proteins (both SDS-soluble and SDS-insoluble) can be a good indicator of baking quality. SE-HPLC is therefore an option to use in breeding programs in Ethiopia for quality evaluation.