Effect of wheat quality traits and glutenin composition on tortilla quality from the USDA Southern Regional Performance Nursery

Authors: ZHANG, PINGPING - Jiangsu Academy Agricultural Sciences; Tilley, Michael - Mike; Bai, Guihua; Harmer, Sarah; Seabourn, Bradford; ZHANG, GURONG - Kansas State University Agricultural Research Center-Hays

Submitted to: Cereal Chemistry
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 8/9/2021
Publication Date: 8/11/2021
Citation: Zhang, P., Tilley, M., Bai, G., Harmer, S.E., Seabourn, B.W., Zhang, G. 2021. Effect of wheat quality traits and glutenin composition on tortilla quality from the USDA Southern Regional Performance Nursery. Cereal Chemistry. 98:1227-1237. https://doi.org/10.1002/cche.10475.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/cche.10475

Interpretive Summary: Once considered an ethnic specialty, wheat flour tortillas have become a popular component of mainstream American diets. The highly versatile nature of tortillas contributes to their position as the second most popular bread product after white bread. Hard winter wheat (HWW), has been bred to produce flour that is appropriate for bread and little research has focused on the functionality requirements for optimal tortilla quality. Desirable characteristics of tortillas include large diameter, high flexibility, opacity, light color and long shelf stability. Flour for tortillas should produce doughs that are highly extensible with a resilient gluten network which will retain flexibility in the final product. Evaluation of wheat quality attributes is a basic approach to predict tortilla quality in breeding programs. The USDA Southern Regional Performance Nursery (SRPN) serves the largest wheat growing region in the USA, mainly aimed to screen good quality wheat for white pan bread production. However, the tortilla quality of germplasm in the SRPN has remained unknown. Thus, the objectives of this study were to: (1) evaluate the tortilla making quality of germplasms in the SRPN, and screen the wheat lines for tortilla quality; (2) to investigate the effect of wheat quality traits on tortilla making quality, and figure out the optimum wheat quality properties necessary to produce good quality tortilla. One hundred and forty-nine winter wheat cultivars or advanced lines from the SRPN were selected and tested for wheat and tortilla quality parameters based on diverse dough rheological properties. A wide variation of wheat and flour tortilla quality traits was found among these wheat lines. Increased protein content and gluten strength significantly decreased tortilla diameter, but improved tortilla shelf life. Medium protein content and gluten strength should be aimed to produce good quality tortilla. The 1RS translocation and Glu-D1 loci significantly affected tortilla quality, and manipulation of HMW-GS composition or the 1RS translocation is an effective approach for improving tortilla quality.

Technical Abstract: The popularity of wheat flour tortillas is spreading throughout the world and has become one of the highest selling bread products. The USDA Southern Regional Performance Nursery (SRPN) served the largest wheat growing region in USA, but the tortilla quality of germplasm in SRPN has remained unknown. This study investigated the kernel, flour and dough rheological properties, tortilla quality parameters and glutenin composition of 149 wheat lines from 1995 to 2007 in SRPN. A wide variation of wheat and tortilla quality traits was observed among these wheat lines. Association analysis showed that increased protein content and gluten strength significantly decreased the tortilla diameter and improved the tortilla shelf life in terms of the flexibility after 16 days storage and 2-D extensibility parameters (P ' 0.001). The group of wheat lines with good quality tortilla (diameter > 165 mm and day 16 flexibility score > 3.0) had medium protein content and gluten strength compared to the groups only with either diameter > 165 mm or day 16 flexibility score > 3.0. Wheat lines with subunits 2+12 and 1RS translocation generally decreased the gluten strength and shelf life compared to those with subunit 5+10 and non-1RS translocation due to their relative lower protein content and gluten strength (P ' 0.01). TAM 302, HBG0358, CO99W192, TX00V1131 and CO99534 showed premium tortilla quality with a diameter = 180 mm and a day 16 flexibility score = 4.0, which could be used as parents in tortilla wheat breeding program.