SOURCES OF HIGH-QUALITY GRAIN IN WINTER COMMON WHEAT BREEDING

Research on improving winter common wheat varieties in the context of combining high yield and grain quality is relevant. The research aimed to evaluate and select variety samples of winter common wheat with high technological indicators of grain quality for breeding purposes. In this study, we analyzed grain from 10 variety samples of the world collection; winter wheat grain of variety ‘Aivina’ served as a standard. Soil – ordinary medium-loamy medium-thick low-humus chernozem. Wheat was grown on the experimental fields of the North Caucasus FARC in the zone with unstable moistening on bare fallow. Grain vitreousness percentage in 2019 ranged between 44.0 and 53.0 %, in 2020 – 30.5–50.0 %. In the same years, this indicator for variety-standard ‘Aivina’ was 56.0 and 48.0 %, respectively. The gluten content in the grain depended on the weather conditions and genotype. Grain of all varieties harvested in 2019, including standard ‘Aivina’, had a high gluten content (28.2–35.6 %) and corresponded to strong wheat. In 2020, the situation was absolutely different. The amount of gluten in the grain of variety samples harvested in 2020 ranged between 22.9 and 34.6 %; for ‘Aivina’, this indicator reached 26.9 %. The gluten quality in all variety samples during the years of research was typical for class 2. The variety samples were characterized by a high protein content in the grain – 16.7–20.8 % and 13.5–20.4 %; the same indicator for ‘Aivina’ was 16.7 and 15.8 %. Sedimentation rate in the variety samples was 50–81 ml and 34–64 ml; in ‘Aivina’ – 50 and 43 ml. Maximum sedimentation values were noted for the variety ‘Prestizh’. It indicates the ability to form grain, the strength of which is typical for wheat-improver. The correlation between sedimentation and gluten content (r = 0.63), as well as between sedimentation and the falling number (r = 0.73), was positive and significant during the years of research. All studied genotypes are promising for breeding new wheat varieties as sources for obtaining high-quality grain.