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

¹Department of Plant Sciences, University of the Free State, P.O. Box 339, Bloemfontein, 9300, South Africa. ²Corresponding author. E-mail: labuscm@sci.uovs.ac.za

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.