Background and Objectives
Minor species of wheat, including einkorn (Ei), emmer (Em), and spelt (Sp), are believed to have different gluten compositions compared to common wheat (CW). Given the ...limited research on these resources, and as a result of a collaboration with a collective of farmers, we aimed to provide insights into their gluten compositions. We focused on varieties readily accessible to farmers and bakers within the region of Lyon, France.
Findings
We compared gluten compositions in 31 wheat varieties, revealing significantly lower glutenin and protein aggregate contents in Ei and Em than in CW. Similar trends, though milder, were observed for Sp. Additionally, we observed intra‐species variability, especially for Em, and identified varieties within each species with noteworthy protein profiles.
Conclusions
Each species showed characteristic protein contents, yet with intraspecies variability. Utilizing an innovative approach to analyze the full information provided by chromatograms, we successfully identified varieties with unusual characteristics.
Significance and Novelty
The specific protein compositions of Ei and Em, and to a lower extent Sp, may impact their processability and digestibility. Our study also highlights that considering complete chromatographic profiles can reveal differences that remain unnoticed when using traditional analytical approaches.
Artisanal pasta made from wheat or underutilized cereal flours has grown in popularity with the expansion of the local and short food chains. Artisanal pasta makers do not use the same raw materials ...or production processes, leading to great variability in the final product. The purpose of the study is to determine the physicochemical and sensory characteristics of artisanal pasta made from durum wheat flour. Seven brands of fusilli pasta manufactured in the Occitanie region (France) were selected and analyzed in terms of their physicochemical composition (protein and ash content in dry samples), cooking properties (optimal cooking time, water absorption, and cooking loss), sensory characteristics (Pivot profile), and consumer appreciation. Differences in the physicochemical characteristics of the dry pasta samples partly explain the variations in pasta characteristics measured after cooking. The Pivot profile varied among pasta brands, but no major differences in hedonic properties were identified. To our knowledge, this is the first time that artisanal pasta made from flour has been characterized in terms of its physicochemical and sensory properties, which highlights the diversity of products on the market.
Durum wheat is grown in the Mediterranean area where drought and high temperature frequently prevail and impact grain texture, composition and yield. The purpose of this work was to examine the ...effect of high temperature on grain development and final composition according to the timing of exposure. High temperature (up to 27.5 °C) was applied either during the linear grain filling or drying phases or during whole grain development. The dynamics of grain dry mass, water, glutenin polymers, and protein bodies during grain development were determined. Irrespective of high temperature timing, the arrest of grain filling was observed at 45.9% grain moisture content. At that point, starch granules included in endosperm cells reached their physical packing limit, limiting further deposits. HT applied before physiological maturity shortened the duration of grain filling and resulted in a significant increase in grain protein concentration and in the proportion of vitreous grain. Late formation of sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS)-insoluble glutenin polymers below 32% grain moisture content was also favored. The ability of wheat storage protein to form a viscoelastic matrix embedding starch granules at the beginning of grain desiccation is proposed to be mandatory for gaining vitreous grains and a high proportion of SDS-insoluble glutenin polymers.
► Studying of wheat grain development under different controlled temperature regimes. ► High temperature negatively impacted grain mass but favored grain vitreousness. ► High temperature increased protein concentration and glutenin polymerization. ► Grain filling arrest always occurred at 45.9% of grain moisture content. ► Protein concentration might control grain drying rate and glutenin polymerization.
To produce safe and healthy whole wheat food products, various grain or bran dry fractionation processes have been developed recently. In order to control the quality of the products and to adapt ...these processes, it is important to be able to monitor the grain tissue proportions in the different milling fractions produced. Accordingly, a quantitative method based on biochemical markers has been developed for the assessment of grain tissue proportions in grain fractions. Grain tissues that were quantified were the outer pericarp, an intermediate layer (including the outer pericarp, the testa and the hyaline layer), the aleurone cell walls, the aleurone cell contents, the endosperm and the germ, for two grain cultivars (Tiger and Crousty). Grain tissues were dissected by hand and analysed. Biochemical markers chosen were ferulic acid trimer, alkylresorcinols,
para-coumaric acid, phytic acid, starch and wheat germ agglutinin, for outer pericarp, intermediate layer, aleurone cell walls, aleurone cell contents, endosperm and germ respectively. The results of tissue quantification by hand dissection and by calculation were compared and the sensitivity of the method was regarded as good (mean relative errors of 4% and 8% for Crousty and Tiger outer layers respectively). The impact of the analytical variability (maximum 13% relative error on coarse bran) was also regarded as acceptable. Wheat germ agglutinin seems to be a promising marker of wheat germ: even if the quantification method was not able to quantify the germ proportions in milling fractions, it was able to classify these fractions according to their germ content. The efficiency of this method was tested, by assessing the grain tissue proportions of fractions exhibiting very different compositions such as flour, bran and aleurone-rich fractions obtained from three different grain or bran dry fractionation processes (conventional milling, debranning process, production of aleurone-rich fractions from coarse bran). By calculation of the composition of the different products generated, it was possible to study the distribution of the different tissues among fractions resulting from the different fractionation processes. This quantitative method is thus a useful tool for the monitoring and improvement of processes, and allows the effects of these processes to be understood and their adaption to reach the objectives.
Wheat grain is recognized as the most suitable raw material for bread and pasta making due to the unique viscoelasticity of its storage proteins, and in particular its glutenin polymers. During grain ...development, low molecular weight (LMW) and high molecular weight (HMW) glutenin subunits (GS) gradually assembled through inter-chain disulfide bonds. Despite the impact of the final glutenin polymer size distribution on wheat technological quality, little is known concerning the oxidative folding of GS. In particular, which of their cysteine (Cys) residues participate to GS inter-chains remains putative. In this study GS from immature Triticum durum wheat grain were separated (1D SDS-PAGE) and digested into peptides, which were analyzed by MALDI-TOF/TOF. Differential alkylation of free and disulfide bonded Cys allowed us to identify the oxidative folding state of five types of LMW-GS and of the 1Bx20 HMW-GS. GS as monomers or as part of small oligomers carried a high number of free cysteine residues. In addition, some Cys residues, hitherto assumed as involved in intra-chain disulfide bonds, appeared simultaneously in free and oxidized forms. The last result could be assigned to their partial-blocking by glutathione. We concluded that the complete oxidative folding of LMW-GS is a late event, subsequent to GS inter-chain pairing.
•MALDI-TOF investigation was conducted on wheat storage protein from immature grains.•Newly synthesized glutenin subunits carried several reduced cysteine.•Cysteine assumed as part of disulfide bonds might be partly S-glutathionylated.•Oxidative folding of low-molecular weight subunits is a late event.
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•“Old” cv. Bidi 17 contains more proteins than “modern” cv. Anvergur and more gliadins.•Proteins are more easily soluble in cooked pasta made from stone-milled semolina.•Cooked pasta ...processed in mild conditions exhibit more SDS-Soluble proteins.•Varieties and milling type had a great impact on in-vitro protein digestibility.
Some people with Non-Coeliac Gluten (or Wheat) Sensitivity (NCGS) declare that they can consume peasant pasta without the usual inconvenience they experience after eating industrial pasta. The main differences between peasant and industrial pasta lie in the varieties used (old vs. modern), and the production chain (grain milling, semolina hydration and mixing, extrusion or lamination, drying and packaging). Yet, the varieties, the material and the method used by the peasants and by the industrial sector to make pasta differ at each stage. The impact of each of these stages was analyzed on protein quantity and quality from semolina to cooked pasta. Grown in the same conditions, the old variety (cv. Bidi 17) used by farmers contained much more protein than the modern variety (cv. Anvergur) recommended by industry and its pasta was better-digested in-vitro. Focusing on cooked pasta, milling had a great impact on not easily soluble proteins (DTE-soluble proteins): pasta made from stone-milled grains (peasant method) had less DTE-soluble proteins than pasta made from roller-milled grains (industrial method) and a higher amount of in-vitro digested proteins. The mixing and extrusion step mainly affected the easily soluble proteins (SDS-soluble proteins). The amount of such proteins was greater for farmer cooked pasta (non-monitored extrusion) than for industrial ones (monitored extrusion). Concerning the drying step, the proportion of SDS-soluble proteins was higher for the pasta dried at low temperature (peasant method), compared to high temperature (industrial method). Thus, the observation that peasant cooked pasta would be more digestible than industrial pasta seems to be due mainly to variety (61%), to a lesser extent to grinding on a stone-mill (22%) and extrusion on non-monitored conditions (16%) and finally a little (1%) to drying at low temperature and therefore longer.
Assembly of glutenin polymers was examined for two contrasted durum wheat cultivars in connection with changes in the redox status of the endosperm cells that accompanied grain development. The ...evolutions of the redox state of ascorbate and glutathione, as well as the activities of antioxidant enzymes were measured. Changes in the size distribution profile and redox state of storage proteins were evaluated, with particular emphasis on protein-bound glutathione (PSSG). At the beginning of grain filling phase, the size distribution profile of proteins included an extra peak shoulder at about 40,000 g mol−1. The shoulder was assimilated to free glutenin subunits as it disappeared concomitantly with the upturn in glutenin polymers accumulation. Irrespective of cultivars, small SDS-soluble polymers accumulated first, followed by larger and insoluble ones, attesting for a progressive polymerization. During the grain filling phase, catalase (EC 1.11.1.6) activity dropped, reaching a very low level at physiological maturity. During the same period, superoxide dismutase (EC 1.15.1.1) and glutathione reductase (EC 1.6.4.2) activities increased steadily while the equilibrium constant between GSSG and PSSG shifted from 10−2 to unity. These results demonstrated that grain filling was accompanied by a continuous decrease in cellular redox potential. In this context, formation of protein-bound glutathione would represent a protective mechanism against irreversible thiol oxidation. Storage protein S-glutathionylation instead of limiting glutenin polymer assembly as it has been proposed might be a required intermediate step for glutenin subunits pairing.
► In durum wheat, glutenin assembly takes place mostly during the grain filling phase. ► Free glutenin subunits bearing thiol groups are detected before 500 °Cd. ► Activities of redox enzymes are continuously changing during grain filling. ► Glutathione did not act as a chain-terminator of glutenin polymers elongation.
•Baking wheat grain yields of organic cropping systems achieved 64% of conventional.•Conventional mixed farming at 50% fertilisation performed better than organic at 100%.•Doubling organic ...fertilisation in organic systems could not improve yields and baking quality.•Preceding crop potatoes compared to maize had greater effects than organic fertilisation.•At 50% intensity or solely mineral conventional fertilisation systems were not sustainable.
Long-term sustainability and high resource use efficiency are major goals for high quality baking wheat production throughout the world. Present strategies are low input systems such as organic agriculture or improved conventional systems (integrated). The fertilisation level and strategy, crop protection as well as preceding crop effects may modulate system performance with respect to wheat grain yield, quality and environmental performance of the systems.
Our aim was to evaluate data of winter wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) performance from the DOK long-term systems experiment in Switzerland comparing two mixed organic (biodynamic and bioorganic: BIODYN and BIOORG) and a mixed conventional cropping system (CONFYM) using mineral fertilisers and farmyard manure at two fertilisation intensities (level 1: 50% of standard fertilisation, level 2: standard fertilisation) since 1978. A conventional system was fertilised exclusively minerally at level 2 (CONMIN) and a control remained unfertilised (NOFERT). We compared crop yields, baking quality parameters, the nitrogen use efficiency and the effect of maize and potatoes as preceding crops obtained between 2003 and 2010 along with long-term soil sustainability parameters.
The mean grain yields across both fertiliser levels of the organic cropping systems (BIODYN and BIOORG) were 64% of CONFYM, whereas crude protein contents were 79% of CONFYM at fertilisation level 2 and achieved 90% at level 1. The main driving factor of lower yields was a reduction of the numbers of ears per m2 and the thousand kernel weight. The apparent nitrogen use efficiency decreased with increasing N fertilisation. Doubling the organic fertilisation in the organic systems only slightly improved wheat grain yields but was not able to improve grain baking quality, due to low mineral N additions via slurry and farmyard manure. In contrast the effects of the preceding crop potatoes in comparison with preceding silage maize outperformed the organic fertilisation effects, resulting in 33% higher yields and 11% higher crude protein contents. The yield components recorded in the case of preceding potatoes demonstrated a more synchronised nutrient supply throughout the wheat development. Over all low input systems and both fertilisation levels in the conventional mixed farm system at half standard fertilisation (level 1) performed best with distinctly higher grain yields and crude protein contents than in the organic systems with standard fertilisation. However, all systems, organic and conventional, with the low or zero organic fertiliser inputs performed poorly considering the long-term soil quality parameters, indicating a degradation of soil quality. The DOK long-term experiment allows an integrated view on the performance of baking wheat production and long-term sustainability. The results emphasise the importance of a sufficient supply of soils with organic fertilisers as well as the need to improve the availability of organic nitrogen and synchrony between nutrient supply and demand in organic baking wheat production, beside the selection of a suitable preceding crop.
In face of growing environmental concerns, biodegradable and bio-sourced plastic nanocomposites are emerging as a new class of materials, especially for the food packaging sector. However, their use ...in food contact raises new issues in term of consumer safety.
The aim of this study was to determine the impact of nanoclays on the apparent diffusion coefficient (Dapp) of selected additives from biopolymers into fatty food simulants. For the most part, nanoclay addition has a non-conventional impact. To understand this, the following parameters were studied: (i) the exfoliation state of nanoclay platelets in the polymer matrix, (ii) the sorption of food simulant by the polymer matrix, and (iii) the crystallinity of the materials. At first glance, solvent uptake and crystallinity agree with the results of diffusivity, however these parameters cannot explain the extreme differences between Dapp values.
•Bio-nanocomposite packaging may meet the inertness criteria for food applications.•The addition of modified nanoclays impacts the apparent diffusivity of additives.•Interactions with food impact the transport properties of bio-nanocomposite packaging.•Conditions of migration testing have to be adapted for nanocomposite material packaging.