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Commercial Success of ECLAIR Programme
AGRE-0052: To explore and improve the industrial use of EC wheats |
AGRE-0052: To explore and improve the industrial use of EC wheats
Science Background
Wheat (Triticum aestivum) is the major cereal produced in the European Union (more than 120 Mt). It is also one of the three major crops used by the starch processing industry, along with maize and potatoes. At the time of this project, there was a gap between process development and understanding of processing requirements and thus wheat quality requirements.
Objectives
Thus the objective was to use breeding techniques in order to develop new types of wheats with properties that might meet future demands of the European industries and the export market. Improvement of industrial use was likely to result from a better knowledge of the various applications of wheat, each main parameter of processing and its effect being expressed in terms of functional properties of the wheat and related to specific wheat constituents and their interactions. Combined functional/physico-chemical (rheology, spectroscopy) and biological (monoclonal antibodies) advanced methodologies would be applied to quality determinants, in order to reach a better understanding of their variability of composition and structure, as well as their mechanism of action in the various industrial processes. New (isogenic, aneuploid) genetic stocks and wheat samples produced in highly controlled environments from different EU Member States, would enable the identification of breeding criteria (for milling quality, breadmaking or biscuit-making quality, adaptation to starch/gluten separation, sprouting resistance, etc.) and development of rapid tests for use in breeding programmes and trade.
Significant changes and results since end of ECLAIR
Progress in defining end-use related quality criteria initiated by this project has had significant commercial impact and European farmers have seen benefits from the research. Development of new varieties over the next 10-15 years, including feed quality wheat and wheat with specific milling qualities, could result in long term revenues in the order of millions of Euros per year. A prototype developed as part of this project for the separation of gluten and starch is being used in-house by most European gluten manufacturers, contributing to a growth in the European gluten industry. This, in combination with the development of a test for desirable milling properties, has resulted in an increase in use of European wheat, rather than North American imports. A unique decanter centrifuge has also been developed by TU-Berlin (Germany). Research has continued under the FAIR programme. The contact at TNO has subsequently moved to the Wageningen Centre for Food Sciences, The Netherlands.
Results
At end of this ECLAIR project
This project, which involved around 50 researchers, contributed to filling the gap between process development and its understanding in terms of processing requirements and wheat quality requirements. It also stimulated breeding and development of wheats capable of satisfying the present and future demands of European industry.
The project was split into three interdependent subprogrammes:
Industrial Processes Better knowledge of the various applications of wheat (including milling, starch/gluten industry and fermentation) was obtained, each main parameter of wheat quality being expressed in terms of functional properties and related to specific constituents and their interactions. This included a comprehensive model for milling quality describing the relative influence of both chemical (potassium content) and morphological (bran friability and kernel width) properties. In the starch/gluten project, a system was developed to separate gluten and starch directly from wholemeal flour. This had not previously been possible and was initially unsuccessful because gluten coagulates in the presence of bran particles making it unsuitable for baking. However, this problem could be solved by low shear sieving in combination with use of a unique miniature decanter centrifuge, which allows the residence time of gluten in the system to be reduced considerably. Also, a unique analytical instrument was developed in conjunction with a manufacturer of grain analytical instruments. The tool resembles a miniaturised gluten-starch separation system enabling the evaluation of flour processing properties and yields of gluten and starch, using as little as 5 g of flour. This instrument was used to demonstrate that pentosans and hemicellulose in flours have a strong effect on gluten yield.
Functional Components and Interactions Glutenin subunits and of native gluten subfractions were purified and characterized. Reconstitution studies were made with purified components and subsequent rheological studies, as well as NMR characterization of subunits, established homologies between starch granule proteins and lipid binding proteins. New ways of characterizing high molecular weight (HMW) and low molecular weight (LMW) subunits of glutenin corresponding to specific alleles were improved further using chromosomal substitution lines and null lines. A simple procedure for determination of the number of cysteine residues directly from electrophoretic bands was developed. The effect of HMW and LMW glutenin subunits on glutenin polymer properties and on rheological behaviour of gluten was explored using lines with deletions of various gliadin or glutenin loci. Mobility and rigidity of polypeptide chains was investigated through electron spin resonance of the gluten sub-fractions.
Biochemical Genetics and Physiology These studies resulted in significant results in terms of:
Current position
The work on biochemical genetics and physiology, that established methods for identifying various protein subunits and the genes that encoded these proteins, has been used since by cereal breeders (including the industrial partners in particular) in selection tools in order to improve the quality of new varieties of wheat and other cereals. In Italy, for instance, ISC has continued to use varietal fingerprinting and the construction of genomic maps through RFLP (restriction fragment length polymorphism) analysis to study disease resistance in barley. RFLP markers have also been used to extend the work on protein subunits and processing characteristics in breeding of wheat.
CCFRA (Campden & Chorleywood Food Research Association, previously FMBRA, UK), was one of the largest single partners in this project. They have continued the fundamental studies related to milling qualities of wheat in-house, and hope to move to applied research in the near future. Negotiations are in progress with commercial wheat breeders and the Home Grown Cereals Authority (HGCA) for funding to develop wheat with novel milling qualities suited to the UK market. They anticipate that samples may be available for testing by the animal feed industry within 3 years, if funding is obtained and that their assumptions are correct. To register these varieties, should trials prove satisfactory, would take a further 4-5 years. Traditionally, maize, which has a hard texture, is used for animal feed for ruminants (cattle) - wheat grain is too soft and thus is digested too rapidly. CCFRA have gained knowledge of how to make bread wheat as hard as durum wheat. There are indications that ultrahard bread wheat may be suitable for pasta for marketing in the UK and N. America.
The ECLAIR project greatly increased understanding of the functionality of gluten. Further research has been funded under FAIR-CT96-1170: Improving the quality of EU wheats for use in the food industry (EUROWHEAT), coordinated by IFR Norwich, UK. It is anticipated that, in particular, this study will ascertain:
This will enable the amino acid sequences of individual HMW subunits to be related to their functional properties, via understanding of their structures and molecular interactions in gluten and doughs. Transformation can then be used to improve the quality of wheat for breadmaking and other food and non-food uses. This information will allow breeders to develop transgenic varieties with improved baking qualities.
In contrast to maize for which commercial GMOs are grown commercially on a large scale in the USA (see AGRE-0003), there are still problems with reliable genetic transformation of wheat. Hence, most breeding advances still depend on classical methods of crossing. Svalof Weibull, Sweden is involved with the FAIR project in commercializing varieties that have been developed on the basis of ECLAIR and FAIR activities. These are now in performance trials under varying agronomic conditions and nitrogen regimes at sites throughout Europe.
Impact
Commercial
A prototype for a miniature system to assess suitability of wheat for gluten industry, which was designed for use with a Perten Instruments analyser, was developed. Perten was approached to commercialize the prototype, but considered the market to be too small, due to the highly specialist nature of the product and the small number of companies manufacturing gluten. However, all the major players in the European starch industry (Amylum, Cerestar, Cargill, etc.) have built their own versions.
A decanter centrifuge developed at TU-Berlin is probably now being used by industry.
Further studies under ECLAIR led to development of a test to select wheat on the basis of milling quality, enabling millers to purchase alternative wheats. These innovations have contributed to increased use of European wheat, rather than imports from North America, and particularly the growth of the European gluten industry. Separated gluten can be combined with soft wheats to give breadmaking performance similar to hard wheats.
At the time the ECLAIR programme was formulated, the structure of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) led to wheat surpluses. Around the time the ECLAIR project finished, the CAP was reformed, which has lead to a dramatic decrease in wheat price. Hence, the end user may balance price against quality. For the farmer, there is thus a need to grow varieties that will be of interest to the miller, which may fetch a higher price.
There is a legal and consumer requirement to supply quality, safe produce. To meet these needs, requires rethinking by many farmers, who should grow for higher quality (although yields may be reduced) by selecting these new varieties aimed at specialty products. This could be favoured by changes towards lower input farm systems, reducing surpluses of feed quality cereals.
Other impacts from this project include areas of baking, such as biscuits, where the mouthfeel texture and keeping qualities are dependent on the nature and content of proteins.
Associated
As a result of this project, independent research was harmonized, thus the degree of overlap has been decreased and the synergy increased, leading to an increase in effectiveness in European cereal science research.
Participants in this project are also involved in FAIR-CT97-3010: Redox phenomena in cereal flour and dough systems and their technological importance (CEREDOX), coordinated by University of Reading, UK. The results of this project should benefit food processors (e.g. millers, bakers, producers of extruded products) and ingredients manufacturers through provision of a knowledge base that will facilitate development of novel, more effective and more consumer-friendly technology for effecting and controlling redox reactions. This will result in improved dough processing properties and baked product quality and development of cereal protein ingredients with novel functional characteristics. The research may also lead to processors being able to measure and control key raw materials factors that affect processing performance and product quality more effectively. The knowledge base may also enable plant breeders to produce new wheats with improved and more consistent processing and end-product qualities.
TNO were also involved in a Eureka project WIN, which was a descendent of this ECLAIR project
Further information
Illustrative material and a video relating to the prototype gluten separator is available from: Mr Marseille, TNO (details as Marcel Kelfkens)
Contacts
Author
CCFRA
ISC
Svalof Weibull AB
TNO
TU-Berlin
University Reading
Wageninigen Centre for Fo
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Updated
by CPL Press:
03/07/2007
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