With the ever-increasing global demand for high quality rice in both local production regions and with Western consumers, we have a strong desire to understand better the importance of the different traits that make up the quality of the rice grain and obtain a full picture of rice quality demographics. Rice is by no means a ‘one size fits all’ crop. Regional preferences are not only striking, they drive the market and hence are of major economic importance in any rice breeding / improvement strategy. In this analysis, we have engaged local experts across the world to perform a full assessment of all the major rice quality trait characteristics and importantly, to determine how these are combined in the most preferred varieties for each of their regions. Physical as well as biochemical characteristics have been monitored and this has resulted in the identification of no less than 18 quality trait combinations. This complexity immediately reveals the extent of the specificity of consumer preference. Nevertheless, further assessment of these combinations at the variety level reveals that several groups still comprise varieties which consumers can readily identify as being different. This emphasises the shortcomings in the current tools we have available to assess rice quality and raises the issue of how we might correct for this in the future. Only with additional tools and research will we be able to define directed strategies for rice breeding which are able to combine important agronomic features with the demands of local consumers for specific quality attributes and hence, design new, improved crop varieties which will be awarded success in the global market.

The performance of maize bread with spongy texture is still a technological challenge due to the absence of a natural network required for holding the carbon dioxide released during the fermentation process. The objective of this research was to investigate the influence of different maize varieties (regional and hybrid), milling process (electric and water mill), formulation and processing variables on the sensory and instrumental (specific volume, texture and colour) quality attributes of corn bread. For that purpose, the traditional breadmaking process applied to the development of the ethnic Portuguese bread (broa) obtained from composite maize-rye-wheat flour was modified to produce gluten-free broa. Significant differences (P<0.05) between regional and hybrid maize were detected in terms of protein, amylose, and maximum, minimum and final viscosities as evaluated by Rapid Visco Analyser. Concerning the effect of milling process, the grinding in a water mill occurs at slower rate than it does in the electrical mill, in consequence the flour from water milling had lower ash content and higher maximum, minimum and final viscosities than the one obtained from electrical milling. An important point in the breadmaking process was the flour blanching that resulted in doughs with higher consistency, adhesiveness, springiness and stickiness as measured by texture analyser, due to the partial gelatinisation of the corn starch. Baking assays demonstrated sensory preference for regional in detriment of hybrid maize varieties for traditional broa production. Breadmaking technology could be satisfactorily applied to produce gluten-free broa.

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The progenies of four intervarietal durum wheat crosses were used to determine the effects of glutenin variants coded at Glu‐1 and Glu‐3 loci on durum wheat quality properties. The F2 lines were analyzed for high molecular weight (HMW) and low molecular weight (LMW) glutenin composition by electrophoresis. Whole grain derived F3 and F4 samples were analyzed for vitreousness, protein, and dry gluten contents, gluten index, SDS sedimentation volume, mixograph, and alveograph properties. Allelic variation at the Glu‐B1 and Glu‐B3 loci affected gluten quality significantly. Comparisons among the Glu‐B3 and Glu‐B1 loci indicated that the LMW glutenin subunits controlled by Glu‐B3 c and j made the largest positive contribution, followed by the alleles a, k, and b. HMW glutenin subunits 14+15 gave larger SDS values and higher mixing development times than subunits 7+8 and 20. The positive effects of the glutenin subunits LMW c and HMW 14+15 were additive. Flour protein content, vitreousness, and mixograph peak height values were positively correlated with each other as well as with Dglut values, whereas the SDS sedimentation highly correlated with mixing development time, alveograph strength, and extensibility but was not correlated with the other parameters. The results of quality analysis, together with the results of the genetic analysis, led to the conclusion that SDS sedimentation, mixograph mixing development time, and peak breakdown are the tests more influenced by allelic variation of prolamin. The uses of the results in durum wheat quality breeding programs are discussed.

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Phaseolus vulgaris L. is the most commonly consumed legume in the world, given its high vegetable protein content, phenolic compounds, and antioxidant properties. It also represents one of the most sustainable, low-carbon and sources of food available at present to man. This study aims to identify the nutrients, antinutrients, phenolic composition, and antioxidant profile of 10 common bean cultivars (Arikara yellow, butter, cranberry, red kidney, navy, pinto, black, brown eyed, pink eyed, and tarrestre) from two harvest years, thereby assessing the potential of each cultivar for specific applications in the food industry. Navy and pink eyed beans showed higher potential for enrichment of foodstuffs and gluten-free products due to their higher protein and amino acid contents. Additionally, red kidney, cranberry and Arikara yellow beans had the highest content of phenolic compounds and antioxidant properties, which can act as functional ingredients in food products, thus bringing health benefits. Our study highlights the potential of using specific bean cultivars in the development of nutrient-enriched food and as functional ingredients in diets designed for disease prevention and treatment.

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Background Maize is a crop in high demand for food purposes and consumers worldwide are increasingly concerned with food quality. However, breeding for improved quality is a complex task and therefore developing tools to select for better quality products is of great importance. Kernel composition, flour pasting behavior, and flour particle size have been previously identified as crucial for maize-based food quality. In this work we carried out a genome-wide association study to identify genomic regions controlling compositional and pasting properties of maize wholemeal flour. Results A collection of 132 diverse inbred lines, with a considerable representation of the food used Portuguese unique germplasm, was trialed during two seasons, and harvested samples characterized for main compositional traits, flour pasting parameters and mean particle size. The collection was genotyped with the MaizeSNP50 array. SNP-trait associations were tested using a mixed linear model accounting for genetic relatedness. Fifty-seven genomic regions were identified, associated with the 11 different quality-related traits evaluated. Regions controlling multiple traits were detected and potential candidate genes identified. As an example, for two viscosity parameters that reflect the capacity of the starch to absorb water and swell, the strongest common associated region was located near the dull endosperm 1 gene that encodes a starch synthase and is determinant on the starch endosperm structure in maize. Conclusions This study allowed for identifying relevant regions on the maize genome affecting maize kernel composition and flour pasting behavior, candidate genes for the majority of the quality-associated genomic regions, or the most promising target regions to develop molecular tools to increase efficacy and efficiency of quality traits selection (such as “breadability”) within maize breeding programs. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (10.1186/s12870-019-1729-7) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.