Reliability of indirect selection in determining the quality of bread wheat for French bread-baking

Putting together information on French bread-baking drawn from 15 years of multi-local experimentation and results of various technological tests (pro tein content and grain hardness, Pelshenke test, Zeleny sedimentation test and Chopin alveograph), has made it possible to study the effects of genoty pe and environment on the traits tested as well as the relationships betwee n them. With the exception of protein content and extensibility L of alveog raph, genotype x environment interactions are weak for technological tests, whereas Cnerna bread-baking parameters are strongly influenced by these sa me interactions. There would appear to be a relatively close connection bet ween the technological tests (except for protein content and extensibility L of alveograph). The technological tests are, however, at best quite weakl y linked to bread-baking parameters, making indirect selection quite unreli able. Threshold values making it possible to eliminate only those genotypes showing little chance of high bread-baking quality are defined for the tec hnological tests. In other respects, it seems that grain hardness has no in fluence on French bread-baking quality. Knowledge of hardness only seems in teresting in helping interpret tests at constant hydration, such as Chopin alveograph, in which it introduces bias. ((C) 1999 Inra/Editions scientifiq ues et medicales Elsevier SAS.