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Flours from five spelt cultivars grown over three years were evaluated as to their breadbaking quality and isolated starch properties. The starch properties included amylose contents, gelatinization temperatures (differential scanning calorimetry), granule size distributions, and pasting properties. Milled flour showed highly variable protein content and was higher than hard winter wheat, with short dough-mix times indicating weak gluten. High protein cultivars gave good crumb scores, some of which surpassed the HRW baking control. Loaf volume was correlated to protein and all spelt cultivars were at least 9–51% lower than the HRW control. Isolated starch properties revealed an increase in amylose in the spelt starches of 2–21% over the hard red winter wheat (HRW) control. Negative correlations were observed for the large A-type granules to bread crumb score, amylose level, and final pasting viscosity for cultivars grown in year 1999 and to pasting temperature in 1998 samples. Positive correlations were found for the small B- and C-type granules relative to crumb score, loaf volume, amylose, and RVA final pasting viscosity for cultivars grown in 1999, and to RVA pasting temperature for samples grown in 1998. The environmental impact on spelt properties seemed to have a greater effect than genetic control.

Starch was isolated from flour of four wheats representing hard red winter (Karl), hard red spring (Gunner), durum (Belfield 3), and spelt (WK 86035-8) wheat classes. Digital image analysis (IA) coupled with light microscopy was used to determine starch size distributions where the volume of granules was calculated as spherical particles or oblate spheroids. Starch granules were classified into three size ranges: A-type granules (> 15 µm), B-type granules (5–15 µm), and C-type granules (<5 µm). An error was noted in using digital image analysis because the perimeter of some granules touch the edge (PTE) of the field being analyzed. To correct for this error, the PTE granules were manually replaced into the field by measuring their diameters and entering them into the database. The results showed differences in the starch size distributions between the classes of wheat evaluated, as well as the method of analysis. Four laser diffraction sizing (LDS) instruments were used to measure granule distributions of the four classes of wheat. LDS compared with IA resulted in a ˜40% underestimation of the A-type granule diameter and a ˜50% underestimation of the B-type granule diameter. A correction factor (adjustment) was developed from IA data to correct LDS analysis. LDS data correlations before adjustments to IA data were R2= 0.02nsto 0.55***. After adjustment, these correlations improved to R2= 0.81*** to 0.93*** depending on the class of wheat starch evaluated.

A transmission electron microscopic (TEM) study was conducted on maturing wheat to determine the sequences of events involved during the drying of preripe starchy endosperm. Field-grown hard red winter wheat Karl and soft red winter wheat Clark were harvested at 21 days after flowering (DAF) and air-dried in the spike at 20°C for 2, 4, 8, 12, 24, 48, and 96 hr and until completely air-dried (7 days). Fresh samples of Karl and Clark were also harvested and prepared immediately for microscopy. Both wheat cultivars underwent similar changes during drying. Few changes were observed during the first 8 hr of drying. By 12 hr after the start of drying, the rough endoplasmic reticulum (RER) was distended and circularized. Protein bodies were irregular in shape and small autophagic vacuoles were found in the cytoplasm. An amorphous material was first observed in areas of the cytoplasm after 24 hr of drying. RER was typically associated with those regions. Endosperm tissue looked nearly mature after 48 hr of drying. Artificially induced senescence caused by harvesting wheat spikes prematurely caused the endosperm tissue to undergo a number of changes that resulted in the tissue looking normal when compared with wheat that was not prematurely harvested. This suggests that the wheat plant has great capacity to develop normally when subjected to environmental stresses. The methods used in this study can be used to investigate endosperm structural changes caused by adverse environmental stress.

A transmission electron microscopic study was conducted on air- and freeze-dried developing wheat to determine the effects of drying on the structure of the starchy endosperm. Field-grown hard red winter wheat (Karl) and soft red winter wheat (Clark) were harvested at 15, 18, 21, 23, 25, 28, and 35 days after flowering (DAF). Wheat was dried by either air-drying in the spike at 28°C or freeze-drying following freezing in liquid nitrogen. Dried wheat was prepared for microscopy. Fresh samples of Karl and Clark were also harvested on the same days and prepared immediately for microscopy. The method of drying greatly affected cellular ultrastructure. The most pronounced change upon air-drying of developing samples was disappearance of individual protein bodies and conversion of the cytoplasm into a matrix-like material similar in appearance to storage protein matrix found in mature wheat endosperm. Freeze-dried wheats maintained nearly natural ultrastructure but exhibited various amounts of freeze damage. Conversion of protein bodies to a matrix was not observed in freeze-dried samples. The results suggest that hardness develops as a result of endosperm senescence rather than accumulation of particular grain components. Senescence may cause changes in the starch granule surface such that surrounding components bind tightly in hard wheats, whereas the binding is weaker in soft wheats. Therefore, the surface of starch granules might be more important than components the starch granules bind to in determining hardness.