The effect of the environment on the grain colour and quality of commercially grown Canada hard white spring wheat, Triticum aestivum L. ‘Snowbird’

Lukow, O. M., Adams, K., Suchy, J., DePauw, R. M. and Humphreys, G. 2013. The effect of the environment on the grain colour and quality of commercially grown Canada hard white spring wheat, Triticum aestivum L. ‘Snowbird’. Can. J. Plant Sci. 93: 1–11. One of the main advantages of hard white wheat is its lighter grain colour, which can produce visually appealing lighter-coloured end-products. However, grain colour variation can be a concern due to a lack of consistency. This study was carried out to determine the effect of the environment on commercially grown hard white wheat grain colour and wheat grading. More than 1100 samples of the cultivar Snowbird were collected from elevators across western Canada during the 2003 to 2007 crop years. Grain and wholemeal colours were recorded using the CIE L* a* b* scale. Samples were analyzed for grain properties including dimensions, hardness and protein content. Variation in grain colour was mostly attributed to annual fluctuations in climatic conditions (71–79%) and agro-climates (13–18%). Grain ranged in colour from white and bright to dark grey-red. Grain brightness was very highly correlated with grain yellowness. Grain a* and b* were inversely related to grade indicating that higher quality grain was redder and more yellow than lower grades. Warmer and drier environments showed reduced grain yields but produced on average better quality grain with higher protein content.

Snowstar hard white spring wheat

Humphreys, D. G., Townley-Smith, T. F., Czarnecki, E., Lukow, O. M., McCallum, B., Fetch, T., Gilbert, J., Menzies, J., Brown, D. and Fox, S. L. 2013. Snowstar hard white spring wheat. Can. J. Plant Sci. 93: 143–148. Snowstar is a hard white spring wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) that represents an improvement in end-use quality specifications of the Canada Western Hard White Spring wheat class compared with Snowbird. Snowstar was evaluated in the Central Bread Wheat Cooperative Test in 2003, and the Hard White Wheat Cooperative Test in 2004 and 2005. Snowstar appears best adapted to the longer season wheat-growing areas of the Canadian prairies. Snowstar was generally lower yielding than the check cultivars. However, in Zone 1 (Manitoba and eastern Saskatchewan), Snowstar had 2% higher grain yield than CDC Teal (2003–2005) and 1.5% more than Snowhite475 (2004–2005). In 2003 and 2005 (Zone 1), Snowstar had grain yield approximately 3% more than Snowbird (data not shown). Snowstar was resistant or moderately resistant to the prevalent races of leaf rust and stem rust. Snowstar was susceptible to common bunt and loose smut. Snowstar was generally more resistant to Fusarium head blight than the check cultivars. Snowstar had higher test weight, flour yield and whiter flour as well as stronger dough compared with Snowbird.