Identification of Australian wheat cultivars by laboratory procedures: examination of pure samples of grain

Abstract

Three laboratory procedures have been examined for the identification of about fifty wheat cultivars currently grown in Australia. The most discriminating of these methods is starch gel electrophoresis of gliadin proteins extracted from a single grain or from meal. This procedure is capable of identifying many of the cultivars directly. However, in some cases identification is complicated by the observation of more than one biotype for a cultivar on the basis of this test. By comparison, a larger number of grains can be examined by the qualitative phenol test but it is less discriminating. Additional information is provided by applying the test to glumes. Thirdly, quantitative assessment of grain hardness, measuring either particle size index or pearling resistance, gives a division of cultivars into about five groups. Specific results are listed for all methods so that the most suitable procedure can be chosen for distinguishing a particular group of cultivars.