Comparison of starch physicochemical properties of wheat cultivars differing in bread- and noodle-making quality

Abstract Wheat cultivars that produce good-quality bread and noodles are important for the food industry and starch physicochemical properties greatly influence the reprocessing quality. In this study, six types of cultivars differing in bread and noodle quality were compared for starch characteristics and for future quality improvement. All six types exhibited significantly different starch physicochemical properties including starch components, amylopectin chain length distribution, granule size and distribution, pasting, swelling, and gelatinization. Most parameters investigated were significantly correlated with bread- and noodle-making performance, confirming significant effects of starch properties on wheat end-use quality. The ratio of amylopectin/amylose contents, proportion of amylopectin short chains (2 ≤ DP ≤ 10), amount of C-type starch granules, pasting peak viscosity and gelatinization conclusion temperature (T c ) were effective indicators for improvement of wheat processing quality, and cultivars with those parameters in ranges of 2.1–2.6, 47.8–51.0%, 36.2–46.7%, 2890–3450 cP, and 68.5–69.6 °C, respectively, would yield superior bread- and/or noodle-making quality.