PHYSIOCHEMICAL AND NUTRITIONAL EVALUATION OF SELECTED PAKISTANI WHEAT VARIETIES

Malnutrition is a serious global problem today. One of the major causes of this malnutrition is that the food supplements do not provide ample nutrients for the high risk groups. In this study sixteen wheat varieties namely; Nacozari-76, Ouqab, Tatar-96, Bakhtawar-92, Yecura-70, Raj, Bakkar, Sulilman-96, Pirsabak-05, Maria, Khyber-87, Fakhr-e-Sarhad, Pirsabak-04, Inqulab-91 and Rawal-87 were evaluated for physiochemical and nutritional properties such as moisture content, ash content, electrical conductivity, thousand grain mass (TGM) and mineral composition. These properties mainly influence the quality of bread made from wheat which is the staple food of people in Pakistan. The wheat variety Ghaznavi-98 contains highest content of moisture with value of 8.38%. The lowest moisture content was present in Ouqab with 6.68%. The aim of the study was to evaluate different wheat varieties for these parameters and to find out the variety with best physiochemical and nutritional values. Data represented the high TGM (Thousand Grain Mass) of Raj with 42.80g while Fakhr-e-Sarhad has less TGM value of 28.03g per 100 grain. Electrical conductivity value (measured in micro Siemen) increased after each interval of 10 minute. Maria, Ouqab and Bakkar varieties were place on the top having electrical conductivity of 106.4-135.6uS, 95.6-132.5uS and 91.6-128.5uS, respectively. The mineral composition evaluated show that the potassium content ranges from 18.79 to 42.82 ppm per 30 grain where as the average sodium content varies from 2.6 to 6.5ppm per 30 grain. It was concluded that Raj, Inqulab-91 and Yecura-70 have good nutritional and physiochemical properties and can be manipulated further for improvement.