Discovering fast and efficient ways to test wheat and flour quality

Wheat breeders, millers and bakers need reliable and rapid methods to test the functional and end-use quality of wheat and wheat flour so they can better create the products that people around the world enjoy like breads and pastas.

Drs. Kun Wang and Bin Xiao Fu of the Grain Research Laboratory’s Bread and Durum Wheat Research Program, along with a team of researchers from the Canadian Grain Commission and Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, found a faster and more efficient way to test 2 key parameters for wheat flour quality: water absorption and gluten strength.

Gluten strength and water absorption capacity are critical factors in determining wheat processing performance and end-product quality. A common way to evaluate dough’s physical properties involves milling to prepare flour for farinograph, extensograph or other tests. These tests require large amounts of wheat for milling and are time consuming due to the flour milling process and time for testing.

The GlutoPeak test is a more rapid option for testing quality parameters that requires smaller samples, and the research team found a new way to make this test even more efficient. The research team found that they received similar GlutoPeak test results by using wholemeal samples when compared to results using refined flour. Wholemeal takes much less time to process because it includes only grinding whole wheat kernels, while refined flour goes through the process of having the wheat bran removed.

During the GlutoPeak test, flour and water slurry goes through intense motion from a rotating paddle. The force created from the gluten developing while mixing and the time required to reach peak resistance are registered and examined. Previous research from this team has demonstrated the success of the test for predicting gluten strength and water absorption potential of Canadian wheat.

This rapid testing method allows wheat breeders to generate quick results with a limited number of samples. It gives a fast and reliable way to predict the qualities of wheat when it’s received by millers and allows bakers a suitable method to predict dough processing qualities and end-product quality early.