‘Sweet Wheat" for Tastier and More Healthful Baking

Through mutations in the field wheat, researchers Toshiki Nakamura and Tomoya Shimbata and colleagues from Central Laboratory, Nippon Flour Mills, Japan were able to identify and develop sweet wheat (SW). The mutant lacks the enzyme to make starch, thus there is more sugar than regular wheat.

A study to determine the mutant's utilization as food and food ingredients published in the Journal of Agriculture and Food Chemistry reveals that the flour tasted sweeter, the seeds and flour contain higher levels of sugars, lipids and dietary fibers than that of the other wheat varieties.

"The specific compositional changes that occurred in SW seed suggest that SW flour may provide health benefits when used as a food ingredient," say the researchers, noting its high levels of healthful carbohydrates termed fructans.

See the news at http://portal.acs.org/portal/acs/corg/content?_nfpb=true&_pageLabel=PP_ARTICLEMAIN&node_
id=223&content_id=CNBP_027320&use_sec=true&sec_url_var=region1&__
uuid=c354c7f6-4195-4141-954a-b78feba326c9 . The full paper can be downloaded at http://pubs.acs.org/stoken/presspac/presspac/full/10.1021/jf200468c.