BREAD-MAKING QUALITY OF WHEAT:

A CENTURY OF BREEDING IN EUROPE

I European Cereal Atlas Foundation

The European Cereal Atlas Foundation, ECAF, is a non-profit organisation with the aim of promoting scientific research on cereals and their grains by compiling an Atlas of Cereal Growing in Europe as well as other publications about cereals and by stimulating the scientific study of cereals which antici­pates the creation of such publications.

ECAF Board

Ir L.A.J. Slootmaker, Chairman, Kesteren, The Netherlands Dr IrA. Darwinkel, Secretary, Research Station for Arable Farming and Field

Production of Vegetables, Lelystad, The Netherlands lr N.M. de Vos, Treasurer, Wageningen, The Netherlands Prof Dr A. Bronnimann, Member, Swiss Federal Research Station for Agro

nomy, Ziirich-Reckenholz, Switzerland Dr F.G.H. Lupton, Member, Cambridge, United Kingdom Ir D.A. Donner, Member, Plant Research International, Wageningen,

The Netherlands

Bread-making quality of wheat A century of breeding in Europe

Part One:

Developments in bread-making processes B. Belderok

Part Two:

Breeding for bread-making quality in Europe J. Mesdag & D. A. Donner

Editor on behalf of ECAF: D. A. Donner

Springer-Science+Business Media, B.V.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Bread-making quality of wheat: a century of breeding in Europe 1 by B. Belderok and J. Mesdag & D.A. Donner.

p.cm. ISBN 978-90-481-5493-7 ISBN 978-94-017-0950-7 (eBook) DOI 10.1007/978-94-017-0950-7

1. Bread. 2. Wheat. 1. Belderok, B. (Bob) II. Mesdag, J. (Hans) III. Donner, D. A. (Dingena A.)

TX769 87743 2000 641.8'15-dc21

ISBN 978-90-481-5493-7

Printed on acid-free paper

Editor ( on behalf of ECAF): D. A. Donner, Wageningen. Language editing: lan Cressie (Cressie Communications, Oosterbeek) Country maps by Lucas Janssen, Wageningen.

All Rights Reserved © 2000 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht Originally published by Kluwer Academic Publishers in 2000

00-033080

No part ot the matenal protected by th1s copynght notlce may be reproducea or utliJzed in any fonn or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or by any infonnation storage and retrieval system, without written pennission from the copyright owner.

Contents

Foreword by L.A.Jo Slootmaker

Glossary

Part One: Developments in bread-making processes by B 0 Belderok

1. Historical introduction 1010 Introduction 1020 Evolutionary history of the hexaploid bread wheats

1.30 Dispersion of wheat in ancient times 1.40 Bread making 1.50 Cereals in Europe before and during the Middle Ages

1060 Amsterdam -the granary of Europe 1. 7 0 Landraces 1.80 The second half of the nineteenth century 1.90 The twentieth century

2. The wheat grain 2010 Anatomy 2020 Chemical composition 2030 Grain hardness

3. Milling of wheat 301. Introduction 3020 Conditioning or tempering 3030 Milling

30301. Milling in a traditional mill 303020 Milling in a roller-mill

3.40 End-products of milling and their application 3050 Milling quality 3060 Soft wheat versus hard wheat 3070 Durum wheat milling

4. Survey of gluten proteins and wheat starches 4010 Gluten proteins

401010 The composition of wheat proteins 401.20 The function of gluten proteins

4020 Wheat starch

v

XV

xvii

3 3 5 7 8 8 9

11 13

15 17 18

21 21 22 22 24 27 27 28 29

30 30 30 31

vi

4.2.1. Composition of the wheat starch 4.2.2. Damaged starch 4.2.3. Enzymes 4.2.4. Sprouting damage

4.3. Components of baking quality 4.3.1. Gas production 4.3.2. Gas retention

4.4. Soft wheat versus hard wheat

5. Bread making 5 .1. Introduction 5.2. Traditional processes

5.2.1. Formula 5.2.2. Mixing and dough formation 5.2.3. First fermentation 5.2.4. Dividing into pieces, rounding and intermediate proof 5.2.5. Moulding and final proof 5.2.6. Baking

5.3. Technological developments 5.3.1. Increased utilization of European wheat 5.3.2. Addition of gluten to flours 5.3.3. Mechanical dough development 5.3.4. Dough retarding- frozen dough

6. Manufacturing of other wheat products 6.1. Biscuit (cookie) making

6.1.1. Introduction 6.1.2. Chemical leavening 6.1.3. Production 6.1.4. Dividing up the dough 6.1.5. Biscuit quality

6.2. Pasta making 6.2.1. Introduction 6.2.2. Raw material 6.2.3. Dough making 6.2.4. Extruding 6.2.5. Drying 6.2.6. Pasta quality

6.3. Other uses of wheat

31 32 33 34 35 35 36 38

40 40 40 41 42 42 42 42 43 43 43 44 45

47 47 47 48 48 49 49 49 50 51 51 51 52 52

vii

7. Genetic basis of quality in bread wheat 7.1. Introduction 55 7.2. Grain hardness 55 7.3. Milling quality 56 7.4. Bread-making quality 57

7 .4.1. Endosperm proteins 57 7 .4.2. HMW glutenin subunits 58 7.4.3. Relation between HMW subunits and bread-making

quality 61 7 .4.4. Gliadins 62 7.4.5. Conclusion 63

7.5. Cultivars giving sticky doughs 63 7.5.1. Wheat-rye substitution and translocation lines 63 7 .5.2. Endogenic high a-amylase levels 64

8. Assay methods and instrumentation 8.1. Introduction 67 8.2. Grain properties 67

8.2.1. External aspects 67 8.2.2. Protein content 68 8.2.3. Grain hardness 69 8.2.4. Alpha-amylase activity 71 8.2.5. HMW glutenin subunits 72

8.3. Milling quality 73 8.4. Dough properties 75

8.4.1. Stickiness of dough 75 8.4.2. Protein strength 76 8.4.3. Baking quality 82

8.5. Evaluation 84 8.5.1. Early stage of breeding 84 8.5.2. Additional assessments 84 8.5.3. Final breeding stages 85

viii

Part Two: Breeding for bread-making quality in Europe by J. Mesdag & D. A. Donner

General introduction to the Nordic countries 1. Climate 89 2. Harvest and yield of wheat 89 3. Use of the wheat harvest 90 4. Quality of Nordic wheat 91 5. Consumption of wheat 91 6. Wheat flour usage 92

Norway 1. Introduction 93 2. General remarks on wheat breeding 94 3. Breeding institutes 94 4. Winter wheat 95 5. Spring wheat 97

5.1. Breeding of spring wheat at Moystad 97 5.2. Breeding of spring wheat at the Agricultural University

ofNorway 98 6. Investigations on glutenin composition 99

Sweden 1. Introduction 106 2. General review of wheat breeding for yield and quality 108 3. Breeding institutes 108 4. Winter wheat 109

4.1. Winter-wheat breeding at Weibullsholm 109 4.2. Winter-wheat breeding at Svalof 111 4.3. Yield and quality of Swedish winter-wheat cultivars 112

5. Spring wheat 113 5.1. Pedigree of spring-wheat cultivars 113 5.2. Yield and quality of spring-wheat cultivars 114 5.3. Yield and protein content of recent spring-wheat cultivars 117

6. Fundamental research on protein quality 118 6.1. HMW glutenin composition of Swedish wheats 118 6.2. HMW glutenin subunits related to quality characteristics 120 6.3. HMW glutenin subunits and D-zone omega gliadins:

the relation with quality characteristics 121

lX

Finland 1. Introduction 125

2. General remarks on wheat growing in Finland 127 2.1. Winter wheat 127 2.2. Spring wheat 127

3. Plant breeding institutes in Finland 128 4. Winter wheat 128

4.1. The area under winter wheat 128 4.2. Methods to determine baking quality at Hankkija 129 4.3. Yield and quality features of winter-wheat varieties 129 4.4. Some conclusions on winter-wheat breeding in Finland 132

5. Spring wheat 132 5.1. The area under spring wheat 132 5.2. Aims and results of spring-wheat breeding in Finland 132 5.3. Yield and quality features of spring-wheat varieties 135 5.4. Some conclusions on spring-wheat breeding in Finland 137

6. Methods for fractionating HMW and LMW glutenins and gliadins and their use in breeding and selection 138 6.1. Some considerations on the application of HMW glutenin

subunits in breeding 138 6.2. A method to separate HMW and LMW glutenin subunits 139 6.3. Investigations on the gliadin and LMW glutenin

composition of Finnish spring-wheat material 139 7. Interaction between kernel yield and protein content 140 8. Stability of quality traits 141

Denmark 1. Introduction 144

1.1. The use of the grain of Danish wheat 144 1.2. Early interest in baking quality of Danish-grown wheats 145

2. General review of wheat breeding for yield and quality 145 2.1. Winter wheat 145 2.2. Spring wheat 146

Germany 1. Introduction 149 2. Wheat breeding before 1945 150

2.1. General remarks 150 2.2. Methods used to measure quality 151 2.3. Wheat breeding in northern and middle Germany 152

X

2.4. Wheat breeding in southern Germany 155 2.4.1. Winter wheat 155 2.4.2. Spring wheat 158

2.5. The 'Kleberweizen-Aktion' 159 3. Wheat breeding after 1945 160

3.1. Wheat breeding in the GDR 160 3.1.1. Winter wheat 160 3.1.2. Spring wheat 162

3.2. Wheat breeding in the FRG 164 3.2.1. The classification of wheat varieties 164 3.2.2. Winter wheat 166 3.2.3. Spring wheat 170 3.2.4. Investigations on glutenin and gliadin composition 170

4. Sources of baking quality in German wheat varieties 173

The Netherlands and Belgium 1. Introduction 179 2. Wheat breeding before 1945 180

2.1. The Netherlands 181 2.2. Belgium 182 2.3. The Technical Wheat Committee in the Netherlands 184

2.3.1. Winter wheat 186 2.3.2. Spring wheat 187

3. Wheat breeding after 1945 189 3.1. The Foundation for Agricultural Plant Breeding (SVP)

in Wageningen 190 3.2. Private breeding firms in the Netherlands 192 3.3. Selection for grain hardness and loafvolume 194 3.4. Wheat breeding in Gembloux and Heverlee 194

4. Investigations on glutenins and gliadins 197 4.1. Glutenins 197 4.2. Gliadins 200

The United Kingdom 1. Introduction 204 2. Wheat breeding before 1945 206

2.1. Early varieties and squareheads 206 2.2. The Plant Breeding Institute in Cambridge 207 2.3. Private breeders 210

3. Wheat breeding after 1945 210 3.1. The classification of wheat varieties 211

3.2. The Plant Breeding Institute in Cambridge 3.2.1. Investigations on bread-making quality 3.2.2. Tools in quality breeding 3.2.3. Winter-wheat varieties bred at PBI

3.3. Private breeders 3.4. Spring-wheat breeding 3.5. Glutenins and gliadins in British wheat varieties

France 1. Introduction 2. Wheat breeding before 1945

2.1. De Vilmorin 2.2. Other breeders

2.2.1. Plant breeding institutes 2.2.2. Private breeders

3. Wheat breeding after 1945 3.1. Winter wheat

3.1.1. Breeding issues 3.1.2. Quality classification 3.1.3. Breeding for improved quality 3.1.4. Results of quality breeding since 1945

3.2. Spring wheat 3.3. Analyses of HMW glutenins

Spain 1. Introduction 2. General remarks on wheat growing in Spain

2.1. Botanical diversity 2.2. Wheat growing areas and wheat consumption 2.3. Irrigation

3. Wheat-breeding institutes 4. Wheat breeding in Spain

4.1. Objectives at the start 4.2. Spanish land varieties 4.3. Imported and home-bred varieties 4.4. Methods to determine baking quality 4.5. Yield and quality figures of Spanish wheat varieties

5. The HMW glutenin composition of Spanish wheats

Italy 1. Introduction

xi

212 212 214 215 218 219 220

225 227 227 230 231 233 235 235 235 235 235 238 240 241

247 247 248 249 250 251 251 251 252 253 254 256 257

265

xii

2. Wheat breeding before 1960 3. Breeding for bread-making quality since 1960

3 .1. Technological investigations 3.2. The classification of wheat varieties 3.3. The introduction of foreign germplasm 3.4. Selection methods 3.5. Results of quality breeding in bread wheat

4. Gliadin and glutenin composition of Italian wheats 5. Concluding remarks

Switzerland 1. Introduction 2. Organisation 3. Wheat breeding before 1950 4. Wheat breeding after 1950

4.1. Winter wheat 4.2. Spring wheat

5. Quality assessment

Austria 1. Introduction 2. Wheat breeding before 1945 3. Wheat breeding after 1945

3.1. The 'QualiUitsweizenaktion' 3.2. Breeding for improved bread-making quality

3.2.1. The semi-arid (Pannonic) region 3.2.2. The Baltic region

4. Analyses of glutenin and gliadin composition

Hungary 1. Introduction 2. Wheat breeding before 1950 3. Wheat breeding after 1950

3.1. Wheat breeding at Martonvasar 3.2. Wheat breeding at Szeged

4. Glutenin composition of Hungarian wheats

Yugoslavia 1. Introduction 2. Wheat breeding during the first half of the 20th century 3. Wheat breeding after 1955

266 269 269 270 272 274 275 276 280

284 285 286 288 288 289 291

295 297 297 297 298 298 300 302

305 307 308 309 312 313

318 319 322

X111

3.1. The concept of creating high-yielding wheat varieties 322 3.2. Results of wheat breeding in Novi Sad 324 3.3. The wheat-breeding programme in Kragujevac 326 3.4. The wheat-breeding programme in Zagreb 329 3.5. Ancestors of Yugoslav winter-wheat cultivars 329

4. Investigations on glutenin and gliadin composition of Yugoslav wheats 330 4.1. Glutenins 330 4.2. Gliadins 332

Romania 1. Introduction 336 2. Wheat breeding in Romania 337

2.1. The period before 1960 337 2.2. Wheat breeding after 1960 338 2.3. Quality breeding at Fundulea after 1970 339 2.4. HMW glutenin and gliadin composition of Romanian wheats 343

Poland 1. Introduction 347 2. General remarks on wheat growing 348

2.1. Geographical situation and climate 348 2.2. Wheat growing areas and production 348

3. Wheat breeding in Poland 349 3.1. Traditional varieties and wheat breeding before 1945 350 3.2. Wheat breeding after 1945 351

3.2.1. Organisation 351 3.2.2. General remarks 352 3.2.3. Wheat breeding at Hodowla Ro&lin (HR) Dariko 352 3.2.4. Quality breeding at SHR Kobierzyce 353 3.2.5. Varieties with bread-making quality 354 3.2.6. Quality characteristics used in bread-wheat breeding 355 3.2.7. HMW glutenin composition 357

Russia and Ukraine 1. Introduction 360

1.1. The country and its climate 360 1.2. Main areas of wheat growing and figures on wheat production 361 1.3. Winter versus spring wheat 363

2. Wheat breeding before 1945 364 2.1. Traditional and local varieties 364

XIV

2.2. Breeding at experimental stations 364 2.2.1. Winter wheat 368 2.2.2. Spring wheat 369

3. Wheat breeding after 1945 370 3.1. Ecological groups of wheat 370 3.2. Ukraine 371

3.2.1. The Plant Breeding and Genetics Institute in Odessa 372 3.2.2. The Belaya Tserkov Breeding Station in Kiev 375 3.2.3. The V. N. Remeslo Institute of Wheat in Mironovka

(Kiev region) 376 3.2.4. The V. Ja. Juryev Institute (UNIIRSG) in Kharkov 376 3.2.5. The Ivanov Breeding Station (Kharkov region) 377 3.2.6. The quality of the Ukrainian wheat harvest 377

3.3. Russia 377 3.3.1. The Lukyanenko Research Institute of Agriculture in

Krasnodar 377 3.3.2. Winter-wheat breeding in the Rostov region 382 3.3.3. The Kuybyshev (Samara) Agricultural Institute in

Bezenchuk 382 3.3.4. The Research Institute of Agriculture in Central Regions

of the Non-Chemozem at Nemchinovka (Moscow) 383 3.3.5. Recommended varieties in Russia 384

4. Fluctuations in the quality of the wheat harvest 386 5. Methods and classification with respect to bread-making quality 388

5.1. Methods used in selecting for bread-making quality 388 5 .2. Classification of technological quality 390

6. Glutenin and gliadin composition of Russian wheats 391 6.1. High molecular weight glutenins 391 6.2. Gliadins 393 6.3. Heterogeneity within Russian wheat varieties 394

List of varieties 399

Foreword

Wheat has a long history of serving as an important food crop to mankind. Especially in the Northern Hemisphere, it has been appreciated as a major source of energy through its carbohydrates, and in more recent times for its supply of valuable proteins. This combination of carbohydrates and proteins gives wheat its unique properties for making breads of different kinds of tastes.

During the course of history, the quality of wheat has improved stead­ily, undoubtedly for a long time by accident, and for reasons little under­stood. Over the last 150 years our knowledge has increased on farming and crop husbandry, on bringing about improvements through goal-oriented plant breeding, and on milling and baking technology, leading to the standards that we enjoy today. This process will certainly continue as our knowledge of the genetic reservoir of wheat species increases.

The European Cereal Atlas Foundation (ECAF) maintains the aim of in­creasing and disseminating knowledge about cereal crops. Within that scope ECAF has decided to publish a book on the history of bread wheat in Europe, the development of associated bread-making technology, and the breeding of bread wheats during the twentieth century.

As ECAF is a Dutch foundation, its Board is particularly pleased to have found three Dutch scientists willing to contribute to this volume. Two of them have served wheat science in the Netherlands for their entire scientific careers, spanning a period starting around 1955 and lasting for several decades of very productive wheat science development.

Dr Bob Belderok, who contributed the first part of this book, has long experience in the Institute for Cereals, Flour and Bread (IGMB) of TNO, Wageningen (now part of TNO Nutrition and Food Research International, Zeist), and is an internationally recognised expert on wheat milling and bak­ing technology. He has worked at the interface of technological development and plant and grain quality characteristics for many years. ECAF acknow­ledges TNO's contribution through making it possible for Dr Belderok to utilise data and information collected during and after his service with them.

Ir Hans Mesdag spent his entire scientific life in the cereal department of the Foundation for Agricultural Plant Breeding (SVP), now merged into Plant Research International, part of Wageningen University and Research Centre. His careful experimens with wheat germplasm gathered from all corners of the globe and with genotype-environment interactions that influence the bread­making quality of breeding lines - the most promising of which were made

available to Dutch plant breeding companies - made him renowned among his practical wheat-breeding colleagues.

Ir Dingena Donner, after a substantial period of international wheat breed­ing on several continents, has served ECAF as a member of the Board and has maintained the secretariat of the editorial committee preparing this book. Her editing work and her contribution to the second part of the book, as co-author with Hans Mesdag, has been of critical value to this publication.

The Board of ECAF is much indebted to Dr Cees Mastenbroek, himself a successful wheat breeder and one who has been acknowledged for his international activities for the benefit of plant breeding. As ECAF's former chairman, he played a great part in the early initiatives to write this book. As chairman of the editorial committee, his continued interest had an important influence on the final content of the book.

Many other specialists have made contributions: they are acknowledged for their specific efforts at the end of the appropriate chapter for each country. In addition, ECAF is much indebted to Mr Ian Cressie of Cressie Commu­nication Services for his correction of the English manuscript and to Kluwer Academic Publishers for the publication of this book.

I sincerely hope that this book, explaining the state of the art of breed­ing for bread wheat at the beginning of the twenty-first century, and with its description of what has been the history of purposive wheat breeding for bread-making quality during the twentieth century, will help the next generation of wheat quality engineers - farmers, technologists, biochemists, breeders, geneticists, plant physiologists and many others -to further improve wheat, one of the world's tastiest basic foods.

Kesteren, June 2000 On behalf of the Board of ECAF Leo A.J. Slootmaker, chairman

Glossary

Statistics

Anonymus (1927) La distribution du froment dans le monde. Rome: Institute of International Agriculture. Anonymus (1947-1998) FAO Yearbook of Food and Agricultural statistics; production, Volumes 1-52. Rome: FAO.

Pedigrees

Notation according to Purdy et al. (1968) [Purdy LH, Loegering WQ, Konzak CF, Peterson CJ, Allen RE (1968) A proposed standard method for illustrating pedigrees of small grain varieties. Crop Science 8: 405-406.] Varieties noted with *2 have been used as a parent and as a backcrossing parent (e.g. Table H.2)

Parameters used in tables

- protein content: percentage protein in the grain, on a dry matter basis - loaf volume: always expressed in ml/100 gram flour - Glu-1 score: unless mentioned otherwise, always according to Payne

( 1987) see chapter 7, part I - year: refers to the year in which the variety has officially been registered

Abbreviations used in tables

ww winter wheat abs absolute

sw spring wheat rei relative

prot cont protein content sel selection

br breeder qual quality

br st breeding station tkw thousand kernel weight

cv(s) cultivar(s) pelsh Pelshenke

prod production farin farinograph