Reduction in diffuse pollution of poultry operations through selection of wheat cultivars of high and consistent nutritional quality

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There is still considerable variability in nutritional quality of wheat which impacts on bird performance and, ultimately, lowers confidence in its use for animal feed. Previous H-GCA / Nottingham work indicated that soft endosperm texture samples were associated with improved quality but it has not been widely appreciated that texture is a variable, not simply hard or soft. Thus there is a need to quantify texture and its resultant influence on quality in both milled wheats but also whole grains (which constitute approximately 10 percent of wheat used in poultry). It is proposed to examine how this variation affects nutritional value by relating this allelic variation using precise genetic stocks such as isogenic lines, recombinant substitution lines and doubled haploid lines available at JIC. The overall objective of the programme is based on in vitro screening of a number of near-isogenic samples from JIC at Nottingham; there will be subsequent in vivo screening on a relatively small-scale basis, introducing enzyme treatments, examining digestibility and gut environment at both Nottingham and SAC. Both milled and whole grains would be evaluated, and there would be due regard for commercial processing operations as well as examination of specific samples of mis-shapen grain.

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