Applications of single kernel conventional and hyperspectral imaging near infrared spectroscopy in cereals

Single kernel (SK) near infrared (NIR) reflectance and transmittance technologies have been developed during the last two decades for a range of cereal grain physical quality and chemical traits as well as detecting and predicting levels of toxins produced by fungi. Challenges during the development of single kernel near infrared (SK-NIR) spectroscopy applications are modifications of existing NIR technology to present single kernels for scanning as well as modifying reference methods for the trait of interest. Numerous applications have been developed, and cover almost all cereals although most have been for key traits including moisture, protein, starch and oil in the globally important food grains, i.e. maize, wheat, rice and barley. An additional benefit in developing SK-NIR applications has been to demonstrate the value in sorting grain infected with a fungus or mycotoxins such as deoxynivalenol, fumonisins and aflatoxins. However, there is still a need to develop cost-effective technologies for high-speed sorting which can be used for small grain samples such as those from breeding programmes or commercial sorting; capable of sorting tonnes per hour. Development of SK-NIR technologies also includes standardisation of SK reference methods to analyse single kernels. For protein content, the use of the Dumas method would require minimal standardisation; for starch or oil content, considerable development would be required. SK-NIR, including the use of hyperspectral imaging, will improve our understanding of grain quality and the inherent variation in the range of a trait. In the area of food safety, this technology will benefit farmers, industry and consumers if it enables contaminated grain to be removed from the human food chain.

Chromosomal loci associated with endosperm hardness in a malting barley cross

A breeding objective for the malting barley industry is to produce lines with softer, plumper grain containing moderate protein content (9-12%) as they are more likely to imbibe water readily and contain more starch per grain, which in turn produces higher levels of malt extract. In a malting barley mapping population, 'Arapiles' × 'Franklin', the most significant and robust quantitative trait locus (QTL) for endosperm hardness was observed on the short arm of chromosome 1H, across three environments over two growing seasons. This accounted for 22.6% (Horsham 2000), 26.8% (Esperance 2001), and 12.0% (Tarranyurk 2001) of the genetic variance and significantly increased endosperm hardness by 2.06-3.03 SKCS hardness units. Interestingly, Arapiles and Franklin do not vary in Ha locus alleles. Therefore, this region, near the centromere on chromosome 1H, may be of great importance when aiming to manipulate endosperm hardness and malting quality. Interestingly, this region, close to the centromere on chromosome 1H, in our study, aligns with the region of the genome that includes the HvCslF9 and the HvGlb1 genes. Potentially, one or both of these genes could be considered to be candidate genes that influence endosperm hardness in the barley grain. Additional QTLs for endosperm hardness were detected on chromosomes 2H, 3H, 6H and 7H, confirming that the hardness trait in barley is complex and multigenic, similar to many malting quality traits of interest.

Hardness methods for testing maize kernels

Maize is a highly important crop to many countries around the world, through the sale of the maize crop to domestic processors and subsequent production of maize products and also provides a staple food to subsistance farms in undeveloped countries. In many countries, there have been long-term research efforts to develop a suitable hardness method that could assist the maize industry in improving efficiency in processing as well as possibly providing a quality specification for maize growers, which could attract a premium. This paper focuses specifically on hardness and reviews a number of methodologies as well as important biochemical aspects of maize that contribute to maize hardness used internationally. Numerous foods are produced from maize, and hardness has been described as having an impact on food quality. However, the basis of hardness and measurement of hardness are very general and would apply to any use of maize from any country. From the published literature, it would appear that one of the simpler methods used to measure hardness is a grinding step followed by a sieving step, using multiple sieve sizes. This would allow the range in hardness within a sample as well as average particle size and/or coarse/fine ratio to be calculated. Any of these parameters could easily be used as reference values for the development of near-infrared (NIR) spectroscopy calibrations. The development of precise NIR calibrations will provide an excellent tool for breeders, handlers, and processors to deliver specific cultivars in the case of growers and bulk loads in the case of handlers, thereby ensuring the most efficient use of maize by domestic and international processors. This paper also considers previous research describing the biochemical aspects of maize that have been related to maize hardness. Both starch and protein affect hardness, with most research focusing on the storage proteins (zeins). Both the content and composition of the zein fractions affect hardness. Genotypes and growing environment influence the final protein and starch content and, to a lesser extent, composition. However, hardness is a highly heritable trait and, hence, when a desirable level of hardness is finally agreed upon, the breeders will quickly be able to produce material with the hardness levels required by the industry.