New White Wheat Debuts

"Wendy” is the name of the new SDSU white wheat. The Foundation Seed Stocks Division made foundation seed of Wendy available to seed producers for planting in fall 2004, which means grain producers will be able to buy seed for planting in fall 2005.

Here’s the scoop on SDSU’s first white wheat release;

• Wendy has excellent winter survival ability, high yield potential and moderate resistance to stem rust, good resistance to tan spot, and moderate susceptibility to leaf rust and wheat streak mosaic virus.
  
• Pre-harvest sprouting is a major challenge for the current generation of hard whites. Rain and high humidity following ripening may cause the grains to sprout while they are still in the spikes.
  
• Wendy has acceptable resistance to pre-harvest sprouting, similar to 'Trego' but better than 'Millennium' and 'Jerry.' It will be best adapted to areas west of the Missouri River in South Dakota.
  
• Wendy is naturally low in an enzyme called polyphenoloxidase (PPO), which causes discoloration of raw and alkaline Asian noodles.
  
• Hard white winter wheat has lower phenolic compounds in the bran than some wheats. That means it is less bitter, so it can be used to produce healthy whole wheat bread that doesn't require as much sugar during the dough processing. Moreover, the flour will be naturally white and will not require bleaching."
  
• Late season application of nitrogen is recommended if Wendy is intended for local bread markets to boost higher protein content that is essential for good bread baking quality. There are also export markets for Wendy in the Middle East and North Africa where whole-wheat flatbread (pita and pocket) is consumed in every meal.
  
• "The next potential hard white winter wheat release from our program will be targeted mainly for the bread market,” says Amir Ibrahim,  SDSU wheat breeder. “Hard white winter wheat that combines excellent noodle and bread baking quality is in the pipeline and we anticipate releasing the first variety of this kind in about four years.”
  
• The variety is named in memory of Wendy Wickersham, secretary for South Dakota Wheat Inc. from 2003-2004.

-- Source: SDSU AgBio Communications.