Genetic and Phenotyping Variation of Grain Protein Concentration,
Dough Strength and Test Weight in Wheat (Triticum aestivum)

Cristina Mihaela Marinciu, Gabriela Şerban, Vasile Mandea, Indira Galit,
Vasile Silviu Vasilescu, Nicolae N. Săulescu

National Agricultural Research and Development Institute Fundulea

Keywords: wheat, protein concentration, dough strength, test weight, nitrogen fertilization, cultivar variation, bread-making quality.

Abstract: Most of the wheat produced in Romania is used for bread making. Therefore bread-making quality parameters, and especially grain protein concentration and dough strength (W), are very inportant for producing suitable bread, without using excessive additives. Test weight (Volumetric weight) is used in grading wheat, as it influences milling quality. In this study, we analyzed these parameters in samples from 21 cultivars, grown with and without nitrogen (N) fertilization over threeyears at NARDI Fundulea in South Romania. Nitrogen fertilization was the main source of variation for protein concentration, explaining 60% of the total variation and increasing the average protein % from 12,5 to 16,4%. Cultivars explained only 4,7% of total sum of squarea, causing an average variation from 14,9 to 17,5% with N fertilizer and from 11,9 to 13,8% without fertilization. A similar pattern was observed for dough strength, where N fertilization explained 59,4% and cultivars 7,9% of the total variation. In contrast, test weigh variation was primaly determined by cultivars (34,3%), while fertilization accounted for only 6,8% of the total variation.
These results highlight the importance of N fertilization in enhancing protein content and dough strength, while genetic differences among cultivars are more influential for test weight, which has implications for both breeding and agronomic management.