No abstract

Waxy wheats possess unique starch functional properties that may be useful in specific end‐uses. To assess the physicochemical, thermal, and pasting properties, starches from seven waxy genotypes originating from two wheat classes, tetraploid durum and hexaploid hard red spring (HRS), were evaluated and compared with their counterpart non‐waxy wild types. The amylose content ranged from 2.3% to 2.6% in waxy durum lines, compared to 29.2% in normal durum control, and 2.1% to 2.4% in waxy HRS, compared with 26.0% in normal HRS control. Significant differences in the degree of crystallinity were observed between the waxy and control starches, despite similar A‐type X‐ray patterns, although differences between the two wheat classes were non‐significant. Both, control and waxy starches displayed an X‐ray peak corresponding to the amylose‐lipid complex, but the intensity of the peak was markedly lower in the waxy starches. The waxy durum starches exhibited the highest transition temperatures as measured by Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC), whereas, the enthalpy of gelatinization of most waxy genotypes was statistically higher than that of the controls. All waxy starches displayed high peak viscosity, high breakdown, and low setback profile as measured by the Rapid Visco Analyser (RVA). Texture analysis of RVA gels revealed significant differences between waxy and non‐waxy wheats, as well as between waxy tetraploid and hexaploid wheats, confirming that the nature and class of wheat starch would play a significant role when using waxy wheat blends in different wheat‐based products.

In this work a new method for brain tumor detection is developed. For this purpose watershed method is used in combination with edge detection operation. It is a color based brain tumor detection algorithm using color brain MRI images in HSV color space. The RGB image is converted to HSV color image by which the image is separated in three regions hue, saturation, and intensity. After contrast enhancement watershed algorithm is applied to the image for each region. Canny edge detector is applied to the output image. After combining the three images final brain tumor segmented image is obtained. The algorithm has been applied on twenty brain MRI images. The developed algorithm has given promising results.

Glyphosate is a nonselective herbicide used as a harvest aid in a variety of crops. Glyphosate is absorbed into the foliage and translocated to metabolically active regions in the plant where it interferes with the shikimic acid pathway. Experiments were conducted to determine the accumulation and distribution of shikimic acid in wheat treated with glyphosate at soft and hard dough stages of kernel development and to determine the fate of shikimic acid during milling and bread making. Elevated levels of shikimic acid were detected throughout the wheat plant. Shikimic acid concentrations peaked 3-7 days after treatment and then declined until harvest. Shikimic acid content was 3-fold greater in flour and 2-fold greater in the bread derived from treated wheat than nontreated wheat. Similarly, elevated levels of shikimic acid were found in the crumbs and crust of bread made with flour from glyphosate treated wheat. Glyphosate applied preharvest resulted in shikimic acid accumulation in hard red spring wheat and subsequent end-use products.

Five hard red spring wheat genotypes, with initial falling numbers (FNs) ranging from 62 to 427 s, were mechanically abraded for 30, 60, and 120 s to reduce sequentially α-amylase activity in the grain. Mechanical abrasion prior to milling significantly increased FN and reduced amylase activity in preharvest sprouted wheat. The abraded grains were milled and the resultant flour samples were evaluated for starch gelatinization properties and yellow alkaline noodle (YAN) quality. Mechanical abrasion on sprouted kernels resulted in significant improvements in starch pasting properties accompanied by marginal decreases in flour ash and protein contents. Initial noodle brightness L * improved in most samples with mechanical abrasion. However, L * values dropped significantly during storage, with the greatest decline seen in the highly sprouted sample. Noodle cooking and textural qualities were relatively unaffected by sprout damage or mechanical abrasion, possibly due to amylase inhibition by the carbonate salts present in the formula. Mechanical abrasion prior to milling was found to reduce amylase activity significantly in moderately sprouted wheat. YAN, however, showed high tolerance to sprout damage, and produced noodles of acceptable texture without mechanical abrasion.