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Characteristics of Modern Triticale Quality: The Relationship Between Carbohydrate Properties, α-Amylase Activity, and Falling Number

¹Plant Breeding Institute, University of Sydney, 12656 Newell Highway, Narrabri, NSW, 2390, Australia. ²Corresponding author. Phone: +61 2 6799 2200. Fax: +61 2 6799 2239. E-mail: angela.dennett@sydney.edu.au ³Faculty of Agriculture and Environment, Level 4 Biomedical Building, 1 Central Ave., Eveleigh, NSW, 2015, Australia.

Triticale is a high-yielding cereal crop with potential to increase grain production for human consumption over the coming decades. Minimal targeted selection has been conducted to produce cultivars with α-amylase, amylose, and nonstarch polysaccharide (NSP) content appropriate for a milling market. Nevertheless, genotypic variability exists. Standard quality screening methods used for wheat, including pasting properties, falling number, and quantification of α-amylase activity were employed to assess the environmental and genotypic variability among modern triticale cultivars and to investigate the suitability of these tests for triticale. Samples of 11 triticale lines from four environments were compared with five wheat cultivars bred for various end uses. Triticale exhibited a greater range than wheat for most tested variables, and the ranges usually overlapped. Triticale exhibited higher NSP content, generally equivalent pasting properties, higher α-amylase activity, and lower falling number on average compared with wheat checks. However, low falling number was not indicative of high α-amylase activity; the relationship with NSP level and other factors is discussed, and caution is recommended for interpretation of previous research. Three cultivars with equivalent α-amylase activity to wheat and two with partially waxy starch were identified. These findings have great significance for research and the emerging triticale milling market.