VARIATION IN GRAIN FUNCTIONAL QUALITY FOR SOFT WINTER-WHEAT

Soft wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) is an ingredient in a broad range of end-use products. The purpose of this research was to study variation in soft wheat flour yield, protein content, mixograph, and wire-cut f ormulation cookie diameter and height. Five soft winter wheat cultivar s were grown in replicated trials in nine environments in Michigan. An alysis of variance revealed that cultivar, environment, and cultivar x environment effects were significant for flour yield, protein content , cookie diameter, and mixograph peak height. Only cultivar significan tly (P < 0.05) affected cookie height. Mixograph peak time was signifi cantly (P < 0.01) affected by cultivar and environment, but not cultiv ar x environment interaction. Huhn's nonparametric stability statistic showed differences in rank stability for flour yield only. Principal component analysis of the cultivar x environment interaction effects s howed no consistent patterns of behavior for similar cultivars, locati ons, or seasons, A reasonable degree of accuracy can be obtained by ev aluating bulked replications from a few locations per year. When purch asing grain, knowledge of the cultivar is useful in predicting quality relative to other cultivars. Knowledge of local environments is of li ttle use when attempting to predict grain quality. The mixograph and w ire-cut cookie tests employed here appear to be useful indicators of q uality in soft wheat.