Effect of environment and genotypes on the physicochemical quality of the grains of newly developed wheat inbred lines

To meet the increased demand for wheat consumption, wheat cultivation in Sudan expanded southward to latitudes lower than 15°N, entering a new and warmer environment. Consequently, wheat breeders developed several wheat genotypes with high yields under these environmental conditions; however, the evaluation of the end-use quality of these genotypes is scarce. In this study, we assessed the end-use quality attributes of 20 wheat genotypes grown in three different environments in the Sudan (Wad Medani, Hudeiba, and Dongola). The results showed significant differences (P ≤ 0.01) in all quality tests among environments, genotypes and genotypes Versus environments. The findings obtained, covered wide ranges of test weight (TW, 76.6-85.25 kg/hL), thousand kernel weight (TKW, 28.70-48.48 g), protein (PC, 9.96-14.06%), wet gluten (WG, 28.63-46.53%), gluten index (GI, 36.36-92.77%), water holding capacity (WHC, 168.42-219.32%), falling number (FN, 508.00-974.67 sec), and sedimentation value (SV, 19.00-40.00 mL). Analysis of the traits, genotypes, and traits versus genotypes showed varied correlations in the three growing environments. The genotype G3 grown in either one or all of the three environments exhibits worthy performance and stability for most of the tested quality traits. The crossing of this genotype with high yield genotypes could produce cultivars with sufficient quality and marketability.