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A growing interest in the recovery and enhancement of crops, particularly local varieties such as 'Caaveiro' wheat, has been observed. This study aims to investigate the impact of cultivation systems (organic versus conventional) on the nutritional quality of 'Caaveiro' flour and breads protected by the PGI "Pan Galego," employing two fermentation methods (sourdough versus sourdough and biological yeast). Organic flour exhibited significantly higher levels of moisture, fat, sucrose, phosphorus (P), sodium (Na), and copper (Cu) while also exhibiting a lower total starch and zinc (Zn) content. Organic bread, produced using both fermentation methods, demonstrated significantly higher protein, carbohydrate, total, resistant, and rapidly digestible starch, ash, Na, P, iron (Fe), and Cu content. Additionally, they contained less moisture compared to conventional bread. Despite variations in nutritional characteristics based on the cultivation system, the organic approach proved effective at producing high-quality products with a positive environmental impact, which is highly appreciated by consumers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: The analysis of simple sequence repeats (SSRs) and of bulk ground samples by droplet digital polymerase chain reaction (ddPCR) was investigated as an alternative to individual kernel testing for assessing the presence of local cultivars in common wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) varietal blends. The recent Protected Geographical Indication (PGI) of 'Pan Galego' (Galician bread) requires that the flour comprise a minimum 25% local wheat cultivars. As a test for compliance with this minimum level, wheat flours were prepared by mixing commercial flours with 0%, 5%, 20%, 25% and 30% 'Caaveiro' and 100% 'Caaveiro' and 100% commercial flours were used as controls. A second analysis was performed with a second set of wheat flours with 5% and 25% 'Caaveiro'. These were mixed with two different commercial flours to assess the potential ability of five SSRs to identify the percentage of 'Caaveiro', constituting the first reference of the use of SSRs in the traceability of specific autochthonous cultivars in flour blends. ddPCR using the QX200 system platform was used to the targeted proportions across the simulated range with two out of five SSRs, indicating that they can be used in the traceability of 'Caaveiro' in mixed flours and breads. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The most consumed cereal-based product worldwide is bread. "Caaveiro", an autochthonous variety with a recent growing interest, is one of the wheat varieties that fulfill the 25% local flour requirement in the PGI "Pan Galego" bread baking industry. The element content of the refined wheat flours used to make "Pan Galego" ("Caaveiro", FCv; Castilla, FC; and a mixture of both, FM) was evaluated in ICP-MS. In addition, wholegrain flour (FWM) was included in the analysis. Loaves of bread were made with these flours (a, 100% FC; b, 100% FCv); and c, FM: 75% FC + 25% FCv) and their element content was analyzed. Wholegrain flour ranked the highest in almost all elements, highlighting the P (494.80 mg/100 g), while the FM and the FC presented the opposite behavior, with the highest Se values (14.4 and 15.8 mg/100 g, respectively). FCv was situated in an intermediate position regarding P, K, Mg, Mn, Zn, Fe and Na content, standing closer to FWM, although it presents the highest values for Cu (1076.3 µg/100 g). The differences observed in flour were maintained in bread. Hence, the local cultivar "Caaveiro" has an interesting nutritional profile from the point of view of the element content. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Numerous studies have aimed to dissect the genetic basis of wheat end-use quality, yet the consideration of gluten aggregation properties in this context has been limited despite its important role in determining the processing quality. This study has addressed the evaluation of the end-use quality of a collection of 189 Spanish bread wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) landraces. For phenotyping, we utilized the GlutoPeak methodology to assess gluten aggregation traits, the SDS-sedimentation test to measure gluten strength and NIR for grain protein content. In addition to previous genotyping data with numerous DArT-seq markers distributed across the entire wheat genome, we developed ten KASP-based molecular markers designed for GLU-1 loci, which encode high molecular weight glutenins (HMW-GS). The reliability of these markers was thoroughly assessed. Our genome-wide association analysis (GWAS) focused on gluten properties and protein content, revealed 89 marker-trait-associated loci (MTAs). These loci were further grouped into 50 MTA-QTLs across various chromosomes based on linkage disequilibrium. While some MTA-QTLs overlapped with regions identified in other studies, others represented novel genomic regions. Inside these regions, we identified several candidate genes with gluten quality-related annotated functions or grain-specific expression patterns, which represent potential targets for marker development and future wheat end-use quality improvement. [Display omitted] • Rapid screening of gluten properties in a landraces collection utilizing GlutoPeak. • Development of KASP markers to facilitate the identification of HMW-GS. • Identification of genomic regions associated with gluten properties through GWAS. • Novel candidate genes associated to gluten properties have been identified. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: One of the main goals of the plant breeding in the twenty-first century is the development of crop cultivars that can maintain current yields in unfavorable environments. Landraces that have been grown under varying local conditions include genetic diversity that will be essential to achieve this objective. The Center of Plant Genetic Resources of the Spanish Institute for Agriculture Research maintains a broad collection of wheat landraces. These accessions, which are locally adapted to diverse eco-climatic conditions, represent highly valuable materials for breeding. However, their efficient use requires an exhaustive genetic characterization. The overall aim of this study was to assess the diversity and population structure of a selected set of 380 Spanish landraces and 52 reference varieties of bread and durum wheat by high-throughput genotyping. Results: The DArTseq GBS approach generated 10 K SNPs and 40 K high-quality DArT markers, which were located against the currently available bread and durum wheat reference genomes. The markers with known locations were distributed across all chromosomes with relatively well-balanced genome-wide coverage. The genetic analysis showed that the Spanish wheat landraces were clustered in different groups, thus representing genetic pools providing a range of allelic variation. The subspecies had a major impact on the population structure of the durum wheat landraces, with three distinct clusters that corresponded to subsp. durum, turgidum and dicoccon being identified. The population structure of bread wheat landraces was mainly biased by geographic origin. Conclusions: The results showed broader genetic diversity in the landraces compared to a reference set that included commercial varieties, and higher divergence between the landraces and the reference set in durum wheat than in bread wheat. The analyses revealed genomic regions whose patterns of variation were markedly different in the landraces and reference varieties, indicating loci that have been under selection during crop improvement, which could help to target breeding efforts. The results obtained from this work will provide a basis for future genome-wide association studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Modern plant-breeding practices have narrowed the genetic base of wheat, such that there is a need to introduce new germplasms with underexploited diversity into breeding programs. Wheat landraces are a very valuable resource when searching for genetic variation, which not only possess increased adaptability, but also quality-related traits. Several studies have shown a wide genetic diversity in Spanish wheat landraces compared to other germplasm collections; therefore, the main objective of this study is to analyze the variability in a collection of 189 landraces from the Spanish National Plant Genetic Resources Centre (Centro de Recursos Fitogenéticos, CRF-INIA, Alcalá de Henares), in relation to end-use quality traits. We characterized the whole collection for high-molecular-weight glutenin and puroindoline allelic composition, and for gluten strength. In addition, grain protein content, grains per spike, and thousand kernel weight were evaluated in samples from four-year field trials. The relationship between glutenin composition and quality was evaluated, and some alleles strongly associated with high quality were identified in the collection, some of them specific for Iberian landraces. The results also show the presence of novel variability within high-molecular-weight glutenin and puroindolines, which needs to be characterized further in order to assess its influence on wheat quality. In addition, a set of landraces showing outstanding values for gluten quality and a good agronomic performance was selected for testing in field trials in order to evaluate the suitability of their direct use in cropping systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Modern plant breeding practices have narrowed the genetic base of wheat throughout the world, increasing crop vulnerability. Therefore, there is clearly a need for introducing new germplasm in breeding programs to search for variability related to traits of agronomic interest for wheat improvement. The existence of subsets of accessions (core collections) that represent the diversity conserved in germplasm collections is a favored approach for breeders to explore novel variation and enhance the use of germplasm. In this study, a core collection of Spanish landraces of bread wheat has been created using high-throughput genotyping technologies (DArTseq), which yielded more than 50 K molecular markers. This marker system not only provides a robust estimate of the diversity, but also information about its distribution in the genome. Two core collections of 94 entries were created by using two common sampling strategies: the maximization strategy and the population structure-based method. Both core collections showed high geographic, phenotypic and genetic representativeness, but the collection obtained with the maximization strategy captured better the diversity displayed by the initial collection. This core collection, which includes a broad range of adapted genotypes, can be efficiently utilized for mining new alleles for useful traits in wheat breeding. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]