Selection of wheat breeders' lines for improved baking quality based on their free lipid content

Abstract

To determine if a relationship exists between the amount of extracted lipid and loaf volume, the free lipid content in wholemeal wheat and flour samples was extracted using n-hexane. Three different extraction methods, classical Soxhlet, a commercial Soxhlet instrument known as the Soxtec and batch extraction at room temperature, were used. The aim was to ascertain which method could best be applied to screen large numbers of wheat lines in a breeding program. The results showed that the Soxhlet and Soxtec methods extracted similar amounts of lipid while the batch method extracted a lower amount. The relationships between loaf volume and free lipid extracted from either flour or wholemeal were highly significant. A protocol for screening wheat lines in a breeding program was developed. When evaluated over 2 years, measurement of free lipid content was sufficiently accurate to be used as a small scale test to select wheat lines for baking quality.