Assessing the variation and genetic architecture of asparagine content in wheat: What can plant breeding contribute to a reduction in the acrylamide precursor?

A large genetic variation, moderately high heritability, and promising prediction ability for genomic selection show that wheat breeding can substantially reduce the acrylamide forming potential in bread wheat by a reduction in its precursor asparagine. Acrylamide is a potentially carcinogenic substance that is formed in baked products of wheat via the Maillard reaction from carbonyl sources and asparagine. In bread, the acrylamide content increases almost linearly with the asparagine content of the wheat grains.

Methodological impact of starch determination on starch content and ileal digestibility of starch in grain legumes for growing pigs.

Background: Grain legumes represent a valuable energy source in pig diets due to their high starch content. The present study was conducted to determine the content and apparent ileal digestibility (AID) of starch in different grain legume cultivars for pigs by means of both a polarimetric and enzymatic method for starch determination.

Methods: Three experiments were conducted with six barrows each which were fitted with ileal T-cannulas.

Monitoring and risk assessment of pesticides in a tropical river of an agricultural watershed in northern Thailand.

The increasing application of pesticides in the uplands of northern Thailand has increased the transfer of pesticides to surface water. To assess the risk of pesticide use for stream water quality, we monitored the concentrations of seven pesticides (atrazine, dichlorvos, chlorpyrifos, dimethoate, chlorothalonil, (α-, β-) endosulfan, cypermethrin) frequently used in the Mae Sa watershed (77 km(2)) in water and sediment samples over a period of one and a half years (2007-2008). All investigated pesticides were recorded in the river.

Effects of elevated CO2 on grain yield and quality of wheat: results from a 3-year free-air CO2 enrichment experiment.

Spring wheat (Triticum aestivum L. cv. TRISO) was grown for three consecutive seasons in a free-air carbon dioxide (CO(2)) enrichment (FACE) field experiment in order to examine the effects on crop yield and grain quality.

Further survey of the occurrence of Fusarium toxins in wheat grown in southwest Germany.

A total of 53, 54, 57, 52 and 60 wheat samples for feed use were collected randomly after the 1989, 1990, 1991, 1992 and 1993 crops, respectively, from farms in an area of southwest Germany. Deoxynivalenol (DON), 3- and 15-acetyldeoxynivalenol (3-, 15-ADON), nivalenol (NIV), HT-2 toxin (HT-2), T-2 toxin (T-2), diacetoxyscirpenol (DAS), and fusarenon-X (FUS-X) were determined by gas chromatography, combined with mass selective detection (GC-MS), zearalenone (ZEA), alpha- and beta-zearalenol (alpha-beta-ZOL) were determined by HPLC. DON was the major toxin, with incidences at 77 to 93% and mean contents at 167 to 735 micrograms/kg.