Genetic Variation and Heritability of Sensory and Artisan Bread Traits in a Set of SRW Wheat Breeding Lines

Maria P Castellari; Senay Simsek; Jae-Bom Ohm; Robert Perry; Hanna J Poffenbarger; Timothy D Phillips; Krista L Jacobsen; David A Van Sanford

doi:10.3390/foods12132617

Genetic Variation and Heritability of Sensory and Artisan Bread Traits in a Set of SRW Wheat Breeding Lines

Foods. 2023 Jul 6;12(13):2617. doi: 10.3390/foods12132617.

Authors

Maria P Castellari¹, Senay Simsek², Jae-Bom Ohm³, Robert Perry⁴, Hanna J Poffenbarger¹, Timothy D Phillips¹, Krista L Jacobsen⁵, David A Van Sanford¹

Affiliations

¹ Department of Plant and Soil Sciences, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY 40546, USA.
² Department of Food Science and Whistler Center for Carbohydrate Research, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN 47907, USA.
³ USDA-ARS, Edward T. Schafer Agricultural Research Center, Cereal Crops Research Unit, Hard Spring and Durum Wheat Quality Laboratory, Fargo, ND 58108, USA.
⁴ Department of Dietetics and Human Nutrition, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY 40546, USA.
⁵ Department of Horticulture, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY 40546, USA.

Abstract

Focus on local food production and supply chains has heightened in recent years, as evidenced and amplified by the COVID-19 pandemic. This study aimed to assess the suitability of soft red winter (SRW) wheat breeding lines for local artisan bakers interested in locally sourced, strong gluten wheat for bread. Seventy-six genotyped SRW wheat breeding lines were milled into whole wheat flour and baked into small loaves. Bread aroma, flavor, and texture were evaluated by a sensory panel, and bread quality traits, including sedimentation volume, dough extensibility, and loaf volume, were measured to estimate heritability. SE-HPLC was performed on white flour, and breeding lines were characterized for different protein fraction ratios. Heritability of loaf volume was moderately high (h² = 0.68), while heritability of sedimentation volume, a much easier trait to measure, was slightly lower (h² = 0.55). Certain protein fraction ratios strongly related to loaf volume had high heritability (h² = 0.7). Even though only a moderate heritability estimate of dough extensibility was found in our study, high positive correlations were found between this parameter and sedimentation volume (r = 0.6) and loaf volume (r = 0.53). This low-input and highly repeatable parameter could be useful to estimate dough functionality characteristics. Flavor and texture heritability estimates ranged from 0.16 to 0.37, and the heritability estimate of aroma was not significantly different from zero. However, the sensorial characteristics were significantly correlated with each other, suggesting that we might be able to select indirectly for aroma by selecting for flavor or texture characteristics. From a genome-wide association study (GWAS), we identified six SNPs (single nucleotide polymorphisms) associated with loaf volume that could be useful in breeding for this trait. Producing high-quality strong gluten flour in our high rainfall environment is a challenge, but it provides local growers and end users with a value-added opportunity.

Keywords: bread-making quality; genomic prediction; loaf volume; local and regional food systems; protein concentration.

Grants and funding

001/Siemer Milling