Prediction of bread-baking quality parameters for commercial Romanian wheat genotypes using near infrared spectroscopy

Wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) is one of the most important raw material for food industry. Since the wheat market is more and more demanding in all aspects related to quality, improvement of wheat grain quality without decreasing the production level represents a constant objective for breeders. Because bread-baking quality parameters of wheat flours are of great importance for processors, these were targeted in this research, Romanian wheat varieties being tested using near infrared reflectance spectroscopy (NIRS) as a convenient, fast, robust, easy to use, precise and environmentally-friendly technique. During the last decades, NIRS is more and more used in food industry for characterizing the quality of raw materials and food products. The main objective of this research was to test several commercial Romanian wheat genotypes in order to find both the bread-baking quality attributes and the best candidates for developing new varieties in breeding programs. Wheat grains originating from the Research & Development Station for Agriculture Turda were analyzed using a Tango spectrometer (Bruker, Germany), calibrated to provide data for intact grains on moisture, proteins, ash, gluten, Zeleny sedimentation value, as well as rheological parameters (tenacity, extensibility and deformation energy). Data were further subjected to principal component analysis, which was accomplished using Matlab (MathWorks Inc., USA), reveling both the genotypes with the best quality attributes and similarities between the studied ones. This non-destructive approach provides a faster alternative for obtaining relevant data, comparing with classic methods, a more convenient tool for farmers and processors to assess the quality of their products, being especially advantageous for breeders since the analyzed seeds can be used further.