Evaluation of Color Characteristics of Cross-Sectioned Wheat Kernels

The color of wheat flour is an important commercial factor and improvement of the color characteristics of kernels is one of the breeding objectives in Japan. Methods were developed to measure color characteristics of both wheat kernels and wheat flour. Wheat kernels were fixed on a newly developed holder with light-curing resin, and a smooth cut-surface was prepared by a programmed cutting of a diamond wheel. Binder-free wheat flour was formed into cylindrical pellets to remove trapped air by repeated compression with a hydraulic press machine. Cut kernels and flour pellets were moistened and analyzed by a two-dimensional colorimetric method. Color changes of both specimens were stabilized after 3 h of moistening. And a comparison of their colorimetric results revealed the possibility of evaluating wheat flour color without milling the kernels. This is useful as an early generation selection method of breeding of wheat because the dissected embryo side retains the germination ability.