The relationship of grain shrivelling to the milling and baking quality of three winter wheat cultivars grown with different rates of nitrogen fertilizer

Abstract

It is generally assumed that poorly filled, or shrivelled wheat grain gives poor flour yields on milling, due to low endosperm content. Quality standards therefore often impose minimum limits of specific weight and grain size with the intention of excluding shrivelled samples. Although milling and baking quality are partly genetically determined, certain of their components are strongly influenced by environment. Flour protein, loaf score and alpha-amylase activity may be improved by nitrogen fertilizer (Pushman & Bingham, 1976), although the reaction of other characters is sometimes less favourable. Reduced flour yields and deterioration of flour colour have been reported at high rates of nitrogen fertilizer (Fuller & Stewart, 1968), and grains frequently become smaller and more shrivelled as application rate is increased (Bayles, 1977 c).