Maintaining grain quality under climate change is critical for human nutrition, end-use functional properties and commodity value. Wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) is one of the significant staple grains with worldwide production being 672 million tonnes in 2012 (FAOSTAT, 2014). Increasing environmental stress on wheat production associated with climate change will affect both the yield and quality of wheat production. Grain quality is defined by a range of physical and compositional properties where threshold requirements are set according to end-use requirements. For staple grains such as wheat, whole-grain physical properties such as size and shape influence milling yield and screening losses, which determine the processing efficiency and value of the grain.
Grain quality is influenced by genetics, management and environment. There is strong genetic control over kernel attributes such as shape, germ tissue, thickness of bran and crease characteristics. However, the post-anthesis environment such as water availability and temperature strongly influence seed size, thus it is important in defining physical properties such as screenings and milling yield (Wardlaw and Wrigley, 1994, Guttieri et al., 2001). Similarly environmental conditions, particularly atmospheric CO2 concentration and high temperature heat shock during the grain filling phase effects starch and protein deposition and functional properties including dough rheology and baking quality (Blumenthal et al., 1993, Jenner, 1994, Fernando et al., 2012).
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