Sammendrag
The proportion of Norwegian wheat used for food has recently been dramatically lower due to both reduced production and poor quality. Furthermore, the Norwegian milling and baking industries have experienced major challenges in utilizing Norwegian wheat due to the instability of factors, such as protein content and gluten functionality, that are of major importance for baking quality. The variation in the wheat quality can itself cause economic losses for the milling and baking industry due to uncertainty in the marketplace. In the same period as a large variation in baking quality was reported in Norwegian wheat, serious contamination of Fusarium spp. and mycotoxins were observed in some grain lots. We have revealed the severe degradation of gluten proteins in some Norwegian wheat samples leading to an almost complete loss in the gluten functionality. The degradation of the gluten appears to be caused by exogenous proteases, and was associated with the presence of Fusarium spp., and their metabolites, and other microorganisms in the wheat. Increased knowledge is needed to establish the cause of the poor gluten functionality and to develop control measures to reduce the amount of poor quality wheat entering the food value chain. In 2014, a new project was established to generate deeper knowledge in the interface between gluten functionality and effects of Fusarium spp. and other microorganism on wheat quality, and to better utilize Norwegian wheat grown in this challenging environment. A metagenomic analysis, designed to identify microorganisms associated with reduced baking quality, has been undertaken. To study the influence of the identified microorganisms and their metabolites on gluten functionality, wheat plants were inoculated with microorganisms, selected based upon the results of the metagenomics study. Fusarium species are among those microorganisms being tested.
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