Abstract
Most of the wheat cultivars grown in Japan was bred for white noodle (Udon) making. Among important objectives of wheat breeding are improved milling quality and eating quality for white noodle, and therefore breeders need objective tests for quality evaluation that is applicable in the early stage of breeding program. Particle size measurement with a laser diffraction particle size analyzer and a modified swelling power test have been used to evaluate the grain hardness and flour swelling character of five imported wheat classes, 133 Japanese cultivars and 63 breeding lines and 34 Australian cultivars. Imported hard wheat classes, i.e. No. 1 Canada Western Red Spring wheat (1CW), U.S. Dark Northern Spring wheat (DNS) and U.S. Hard Red Winter wheat (HRW), yielded wholemeal with coarse particle size, while soft wheat, U.S. Western White wheat (WW), yielded wholemeal with fine particle size. The particle size of wholemeal from Australian Standard White wheat (ASW) was intermediate. Swelling power value of ASW was extremely high, WW intermediate and hard wheat classes comparatively low. ASW, which is known for good white noodle quality, was characterized with moderate hardness and higher swelling power. Among Japanese cultivars and breeding lines examined, cv. Chihokukomugi, Kanto 107 and Kanto 79 had higher swelling power values corresponding to ASW, but their mean particle sizes were smaller than ASW. Although some Japanese cultivars had hard endosperm texture, their swelling power values were low compared with ASW. Among Australian cultivars, the swelling power values of hard cvs. Sunelg and Takari were as high as that of soft cv. Rosella.
