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New Noodlemaking Wheat in the
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White wheat.
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American-grown hard white wheat may one day capture the hearts and palates
of Asian consumers.
Scientists in the ARS Wheat, Sorghum, and Forage Research Unit at Lincoln,
Nebraska, are working to develop varieties of hard white wheat that are ideal
for making oriental noodles.
Agronomist C. James Peterson says commercial varieties of hard white wheat
are now available, but they have qualities needed for making breadnot
noodles.
Our goal is to design hard white wheats for Asian noodle
markets, he says. The first challenge has been to identify the
traits desired most. Weve rated improving noodle color as top priority,
followed by improving textural properties.
On that all-important issue of color, Craig F. Morris, a cereal chemist in
the ARS Wheat Genetics Quality Research Unit at Pullman, Washington, notes,
Asians like a uniformly bright product in various shades of yellow
ranging from faint to intense. Any sort of gray, brown, or dull-colored noodle
is just rejected.
We dont know yet what gives the noodle its color or why some
flours discolor, says Morris. We do know that when you take a nice,
white flour and mix it in an alkaline environment, it turns yellow.
Since Asians prefer noodles with a soft and chewy texture, the scientists
are working to breed a white wheat that is low in amylosea component of
starch that affects texture, says Robert A. Graybosch, a plant geneticist. The
three genes responsible for amylose production in wheat have been mapped by
Japanese researchers. Identifying their DNA locations raises the possibility
that they can be manipulated.
We know that if you eliminate two out of three of these genes, you can
lower amylose production by one-third, Graybosch says.
Lowering amylose starch is more important than, say, concerns about the
protein we know as gluten. Gluten is not a major factor to noodlemakers, who
dont need the same dough strength that breadmakers desire. Starch
quality is more important, says Graybosch.
Hard white wheat varieties are also finding a place in the American market
in low-cholesterol whole-wheat breads that hold greater appeal to consumers,
especially children.
Bread made from hard white wheat is lighter colored and "sweeter."
That's because white wheat's outer kernel contains fewer of the tannins and
phenolic compounds that give red wheat products a stronger flavor.
U.S. production of hard white wheat is currently very limited, and nearly
all is used domestically in specialty-market breads. Peterson says that
"by modifying and enhancing qualityalong with improving disease and
insect resistance, baking quality, and overall yield of hard white wheat
varietieswe hope to increase U.S. hard white production, as well as open
the large Asian market for our wheat growers." -- By Dawn
Lyons-Johnson, ARS.
Bob
Graybosch is in the USDA-ARS Wheat, Sorghum, and Forage Unit, University of
Nebraska, Lincoln, NE; phone (402) 472-1563.
Craig F.
Morris is at the USDA-ARS Wheat Genetics, Quality Physiology and Disease
Research Unit, Washington State University, Pullman, WA; phone (509)
335-4062.
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