Protein and starch properties of some tetraploid wheats

The tetraploid relatives (subspecies) of commercial durum wheat (Triticum turgidum L. subsp. turgidum conv. durum (Desf.) MacKey) offer a source of economically useful genes for the genetic improvement of durum cultivars. Thirty-two accessions, representing five different subspecies: var. durum (13 accessions), polonicum (7), persicum (3), turanicum (5), and turgidum (4) were grown at Tamworth, Australia, in 1997 and 1999. These accessions were compared with three durum cultivars: Wollaroi and Kamilaroi (in both years) and Yallaroi (in 1998 only). In this study, the glutenin subunit composition and molecular weight distribution, together with starch properties of these accessions, were studied. A much wider range in both the glutenin subunit composition and the starch RVA paste viscosities and gelatinization profiles were found in the accessions compared with the cultivated durum wheats. Most of the accessions had lower gluten strength and the presence of poor quality LMW alleles, and low proportions of unextractable polymeric protein could explain this. For starch, RVA peak viscosity correlated strongly with cooking loss of pasta, the only significant correlation between starch properties and measured aspects of pasta quality.