Lutein esterification increases carotenoid retention in durum wheat grain. A step further in breeding and improving the commercial and nutritional quality during grain storage

•Esterification increases carotenoid retention during storage of durum wheat grains.•Esterification would be useful in durum wheat breeding programs.•F2-bulks contrasting for esterification give a better picture of carotenoid esterification potential than single lines. Carotenoid esterification is a common mechanism for carotenoid sequestration, accumulation and storage in plants. Carotenoids are responsible for the bright yellow colour of pasta. Therefore, carotenoid retention during storage is of great importance in the durum wheat food chain. In this work, we investigated the role of carotenoid esterification on carotenoid retention in durum wheat using two consecutive storage experiments. Firstly, we compared two landraces and two durum wheat varieties as a preliminary work. We then compared individuals derived from the BGE047535בAthoris’ cross contrasting for esterification ability. Our results show that carotenoid esterification leads to a higher carotenoid retention during storage in durum wheat. Thus, the use of the carotenoid esterification would be useful as an extra strategy to ongoing efforts to improve carotenoid retention in the durum wheat food chain.