A new wheat [Triticum aestivum] cultivar 'Toukai 103' for Japanese white salted noodle with better texture, color and dough property

The wheat breeding program which was established in Aichi Prefectural Agricultural Research Center in 2001 on the special assignment by the Japanese ministry of agriculture, forestry and fisheries (MAFF) bred a new wheat cultivar 'Toukai 103' with better dough property, low mineral content, early maturity, high yield and excellent visual quality in 2009. This cultivar was developed from the progeny of the cross which was made in May of 2001 between elite cultivar 'Kinunonami' with superior dough strength and 'Saikai 184' with properties of early maturity and high yield. 'Toukai 103' is the first wheat cultivar with four kinds of glutenin subunits alleles (Glu-A1b, Glu-B1b, Glu-A3d, Glu-B3g) that enhance dough property selected/identified by DNA marker-assisted selection (MAS). The cultivar possesses optimum dough strength and superior texture of Japanese white salted noodle, high sensory quality with slightly-low-amylose content and bright creamy noodle color with low mineral content. The seed contains relatively low protein. As for the agronomic traits, 'Toukai 103' performs early maturity, high yield with superior grain quality and moderate water-logging tolerance. 'Toukai 103' was applied for the variety registration to seed and seedling section of MAFF in September, 2009. The cultivar is promising as a recommended cultivar nominee in 'Toukai region' of Japan including Aichi Prefecture.