Mike Sissons

• BAgSc, MAgSc, PhD (Adelaide)
• Group Leader at New South Wales Department of Primary Industries

Reserve starch, the main component of durum wheat semolina, is constituted of two glucan homopolymers (amylose and amylopectin) that differ in their chemical structure. Amylose is mainly a linear structure formed of α-1,4-linked glucose units, with a lower polymerization degree, whereas amylopectin is a highly branched structure of α-1,4-chains lin...

Reserve starch, the main component of durum wheat semolina, is constituted by two glucan homopolymers (amylose and amylopectin) that differ in their chemical structure. Amylose is mainly a linear structure formed of α-1,4 linked glucose units, with a lower polymerization degree, whereas amylopectin is a highly branched structure of α-1,4 chains lin...

Context The cereal disease Fusarium crown rot (FCR), caused by the fungal pathogen Fusarium pseudograminearum, is a worldwide major constraint to winter cereal production, especially in Australia’s northern grain region of New South Wales and Queensland. Aims Detection of the disease is labour-intensive and often not spatially quantifiable; hence,...

In Australia, adoption of reduced tillage and stubble retention cropping systems by growers to conserve soil moisture has seen an increase in the prevalence of the disease Fusarium crown rot (FCR) caused by the stubble-borne fungal pathogen Fusarium pseudograminearum. Durum wheat is particularly susceptible to FCR, exhibiting significant yield and...

The structural deformation of starch during pasta extrusion leads to varied effects on pasta quality. We investigated the impact of shearing force on the starch structure of pasta and pasta quality by varying the screw speed (100, 300, 500 and 600 rpm) with a temperature range of 25 to 50 ℃ in increments of 5 ℃, from the feeding zone to the die zon...

In Australia adoption of reduced tillage and stubble retention cropping systems to conserve soil moisture by growers has seen an increase in the prevalence of the disease Fusarium crown rot (FCR) caused by the stubble-borne fungal pathogen Fusarium pseudograminearum. Durum wheat is particularly susceptible to FCR expressing significant yield and qu...

Background and Objectives While there are a few studies examining the impact of isolated starch A and B granule preparations on cereal end product quality, there is limited information about the effect of genotypic variation in B granule content in starch on pasta technological properties and pasta in vitro starch digestion. Crosses were made betwe...

The cereal disease Fusarium crown rot (FCR), caused by the fungal pathogen Fusarium pseudograminearum (Fp), is a major constraint to cereal production worldwide. Nitrogen (N) fertilizer is estimated to be approximately 30% of the input costs for grain growers in Australia and is the primary driver of yield and grain protein levels. When targeting h...

Durum wheat is widely used in various products, including long and short dried pasta, fresh and sheeted pasta, couscous, bulgur and baked bread [...]

Durum semolina spaghetti is known to have a low-moderate glycaemic index but the impact of various processing variables during the manufacture and cooking of pasta does affect pasta structure and potentially could alter starch digestion. In this study, several process variables were investigated to see if they can impact the in vitro starch digesti...

The cereal disease Fusarium crown rot (FCR), caused by the fungal pathogen Fusarium pseudograminearum, is a worldwide major constraint to winter cereal production but especially in Australia’s northern grain’s region (NGR) of NSW and Queensland. Conventionally, FCR induced yield penalties are associated with semi-arid water-limited conditions durin...

The cereal disease Fusarium crown rot (FCR), caused by the fungal pathogen Fusarium pseudograminearum, is a worldwide major constraint to winter cereal production but especially in Australia’s northern grain’s region (NGR) of NSW and Queensland. Conventionally, FCR induced yield penalties are associated with semi-arid water-limited conditions durin...

Wheat quality is a complex concept whose importance lies in determining the ability of each segment of the post-harvest processing and marketing industries to minimize cost while maximizing profit. Wheat quality is also a highly subjective concept that could be defined differently by the various stakeholders in the wheat value chain. It is usually...

In the past thirty years many attempts have been addressed to the possibility to improve the breadmaking characteristics of durum wheat. Since the low breadmaking quality of durum wheat was mainly attributed to the absence of suitable high (HMW-GS) – and low (LMW-GS) molecular weight glutenin subunits, different approaches have been used to introgr...

Although durum wheat (Triticum durum L. ssp. durum Desf.) has traditionally been used to make a range of food products, its use has been restricted due to the absence of the D-genome glutenin proteins, the relatively low variability in starch composition, and its very hard grain texture. This review focuses on the manipulation of the starch and pro...

Background and Objectives Durum wheat breeding commenced in Australia in the 1930s by the New South Wales Department of Primary Industries (NSW DPI), Australia. Dural was developed in 1956 from a cross between North African landraces. Since then, another 20 varieties have been released in the following six decades by NSW DPI and the University of A...

Pasta made from durum wheat is a widely consumed worldwide and is a healthy and convenient food. In the last two decades, there has been much research effort into improving the nutritional value of pasta by inclusion of nonconventional ingredients due to the demand by health-conscious consumers for functional foods. These ingredients can affect the...

Wheat bran is a conventional by-product of the wheat milling industry mainly used for animal feed. It is a rich and inexpensive source of phytonutrients, so is in demand for fibre-rich food products but creates quality issues when incorporated into bread. The purpose of this study was to characterize the physicochemical properties and phytochemical...

Spaghetti commonly made with durum wheat, typically lacks essential amino acids and with low fibre. Legumes offer potential to improve these properties and lupin is a good choice because it is cheaper with fewer antinutritional compounds than other legumes. Spaghetti was prepared with 0%, 5%, 17% and 30% lupin protein isolate (LPI) using both singl...

Background and objectives Wheat bran is commonly used in pasta products and is an excellent source of phytochemicals, but it creates various processing and consumer acceptability issues. Proteins extracted from bran (WBPC) have potential to improve the protein content and protein quality of pasta, but their contribution to the phytochemical content...

supplementary data to https://doi.org/10.20900/cbgg20200018

Grain protein content >12-13% is known to be an important factor in ensuring a good pasta quality. However, the impacts of a wide protein variation on starch digestion in the pasta are not well elucidated. In this study semolina blends were prepared to achieve a protein range of 8.9-18.8%. Dough strength was not effected but water requirements for...

Plant industrial by-products have generally low value but can be a good source of nutritional compounds. Wheat bran is the main by-product of wheat milling and contains more than 15% high-quality proteins. Extraction of wheat bran proteins (WBPC) and inclusion in spaghetti and bread formulations was studied to determine if the nutritional propertie...

Resistant starch (RS) in foods has positive benefits for potentially alleviating lifestyle diseases. RS is correlated positively with starch amylose content. This study aimed to see what level of amylose in durum wheat is needed to lower pasta GI. The silencing of starch synthases IIa (SSIIa) and starch branching enzymes IIa (SBEIIa), key genes inv...

Background and objectives Durum breeders are interested in screening early generation lines for quality traits to eliminate low quality lines as soon as possible. However, this requires minimal sample usage, simple and discriminating tests. Due to insufficient quantities of sample available in the early stages of breeding process, a reliable and co...

Technological (processing performance and end-product) and nutritional quality of wheat is in principle determined by a number of compounds within the wheat grain, including proteins, polysaccharides, lipids, minerals, heavy metals, vitamins and phytochemicals, effecting these characters. The genotype and environment is of similar importance for th...

Grain characteristics (hardness, protein content/quality, starch properties, enzymatic activity, etc.) play an important role in the definition of end use quality for wheat-based products. Among them, gluten strength and extensibility, mostly determined by glutenin and gliadin composition, are two of the main factors that determine gluten quality....

Grain characteristics (hardness, protein content/quality, starch properties, enzymatic activity, etc.) play an important role in the definition of end use quality for wheat-based products. Among them, gluten strength and extensibility, mostly determined by glutenin and gliadin composition, are two of the main factors that determine gluten quality....

Technological (processing performance and end-product) and nutritional quality of wheat is in principle determined by a number of compounds within the wheat grain, including proteins, polysaccharides, lipids, minerals, heavy metals, vitamins and phytochemicals, effecting these characters. The genotype and environment is of similar importance for th...

The main focus of a durum breeding program is to create high yielding, adapted durum wheat varieties that meet grain quality standards. Using modern statistical approaches we show how comprehensive data sets can be used to readily identify high performing and stable genotypes. A subset of 12 durum wheat genotypes were selected from breeding trials...

Background and objectives Plant industrial by‐products are relatively low cost and rich in organic material. Although these by‐products are a good source of various nutritional compounds, they represent the main disposal problem for the food industry. Wheat bran, one of the main by‐products of the wheat milling industry, contains more than 15% high...

Background and objectives: Plant industrial by-products are relatively low cost and a good source of nutritional compounds. Wheat bran is the main by-product of wheat milling and contains more than 15% high-quality proteins. However, these proteins are present in a form which is poorly digested as they are enclosed within a matrix of cell wall poly...

Annually, large quantities of wheat bran produced from wheat milling (~167 million tonnes). Wheat bran is rich in nutrients like highly digestible protein, vitamins, phytosterols, phenolic acids, alkylresorcinol and arabinoxylans, which play a significant role in protecting humans from many diseases. However, wheat bran is under-utilised in the foo...

The AACC International (AACCI) Pasta Products Analysis Technical Committee has completed a collaborative study of methods for measuring spaghetti fully cooked time (FCT) and cooked spaghetti firmness (absolute peak force, area to absolute peak force, total downstroke area, and total positive area). The methods have been approved as AACCI Approved M...

Background and objectives Durum wheat is mainly used for the production of pasta, but a significant amount is also used for bread and other products worldwide. However, leavened bread made from durum wheat flour or as blends results in bread with lower loaf volume compared to bread made from hexaploid wheat probably due to poor dough strength and/o...

Background objectives Durum wheat is used to make leavened bread however, durum bread has inferior loaf volume, structure and texture compared to bread made from common wheat. One approach to overcome this is to transfer key storage protein genes present at the Glu‐D1 locus from bread wheat into durum. Durum wheat Svevo missing Glu‐B1 subunits 7+8...

Starch in pasta is slowly digested, which is nutritionally advantageous because it reduces post-prandial glycemia, a risk factor for type 2 diabetes. We examine the role of proteinaceous amylase inhibitors, providing insights into how wheat proteins slow starch digestion. Gluten samples were extracted in the laboratory and also commercially obtaine...

Wheat is the mainstay of the Australian grains industry, accounting for 56% of total grain tonnage produced annually. Heat waves of >30 °C for ~3 days are known to reduce grain yield and grain weight. On the other hand, our research has shown that heat stress can have positive impacts on aspects of grain quality such as grain protein content, dough...

Pasta products are regarded as a staple food with an annual consumption worldwide of 3 million tonnes and increasing. However, these products are deficient in some essential amino acids. In this study wheat bran protein concentrate (WBPC) was isolated from durum wheat bran using alkaline extraction at pH 9 and isoelectric precipitation at pH 4 to s...

Background and objectives Durum breeders are interested in being able to remove weak gluten genotypes from their crossing populations. Although numerous tests exist to measure gluten strength, methods that can be used in early generations, use minimal sample with little processing and have good discrimination are lacking. The purpose of this work w...

Background and objectives Heat stress is a major limiting factor to wheat yield that also impacts on grain quality, and its incidence is likely to increase. Thirty‐seven durum wheats were grown in irrigated replicated field trials over two seasons in Australia, normal sown ( NS ) or a 2‐month late sown ( LS ). Agronomic and technological quality tr...

Background and objectives Consumption of whole grain cereal products, which are rich in phenolic acids, is associated with lower risk of degenerative diseases. Phenolics in plants are associated with abiotic stress adaptation due to their antioxidant activities. Free, bound, and total phenolics in the wholemeal flour of 50 durum wheat ( Triticum tu...

Despite its growing importance as a fumigant for grain, there is no information on the impact of sorption on the efficacy of sulfuryl fluoride (SF) against target insect pests. Eggs and adults of a major grain pest, Rhyzopertha dominica, living in wheat (12% m.c.), were fumigated with SF at 0.5, 1, and 2 mg/L for 168 h at 25 �C. Sorption of the fum...

Firmness of cooked spaghetti is a critical factor in consumer acceptability and measuring firmness is an important part of quality control and product development. The objective of this work was to develop an improved method for measuring spaghetti firmness with greater repeatability between laboratories than the current AACCI method 66-50.01. Thir...

Durum wheat is of significance as a food crop being used to make pasta, couscous, burghul, puddings, bread (flat and leavened), and other traditional foods. The main durum producers are the EU, North America (including Mexico), Middle East, North Africa, the former Soviet Union, and India. Durum is widely adapted and it is mostly grown in semiarid...

This article provides a brief overview largely directed at dried pasta made from durum wheat. It covers a brief history, the raw material requirements, and the manufacture of pasta from wheat milling to pasta drying. The assessment of pasta quality, its nutritional value, and the use of nonwheat sources to manufacture pasta and functional food past...

Durum wheat is of significance as a food crop being used to make pasta, couscous, burghul, puddings, bread (flat and leavened), and other traditional foods. The main durum producers are the EU, North America (including Mexico), Middle East, North Africa, the former Soviet Union, and India. Durum is widely adapted and it is mostly grown in semiarid...

This article provides a brief overview largely directed at dried pasta made from durum wheat. It covers a brief history, the raw material requirements, and the manufacture of pasta from wheat milling to pasta drying. The assessment of pasta quality, its nutritional value, and the use of nonwheat sources to manufacture pasta and functional food past...

The role that the compact structure and proteins in pasta play in retarding evolution of starch molecular structure during in vitro digestion is explored, using four types of cooked samples: whole pasta, pasta powder, semolina (with proteins) and extracted starch without proteins. These were subjected to in vitro digestion with porcine α-amylase, c...

A rapid shear based test using a GlutoPeak instrument was compared with commonly used tests by durum wheat breeders to assess the potential of this instrument to discriminate between samples. Thirty two durum wheat semolina samples were analysed by mixograph, SDS sedimentation (SDSS), gluten index (GI) and GlutoPeak. A subset was also tested for pa...

There is no information on the effect of sulfuryl fluoride (SF) on durum wheat technological properties and products made from fumigated durum wheat. Durum wheat and semolina were exposed to a range of SF applications under conditions that might be typically encountered in bulk storage facilities used in many countries. SF greatly reduced the germi...

Predictions about milling, dough making, and baking properties can be made by measuring properties of the wheat grain with different small- and medium-scale equipment. In this study, rheological hardness index (RHI) was shown to separate hexaploid wheats and durums into clearly distinct hardness classes. Earlier work demonstrated the utility of RHI...

Puff pastry is a popular nonleavened pastry product with unique textural properties. Puff pastry is processed from laminated dough, comprising alternating and discrete layers of dough and fat. Puff pastry quality can vary substantially depending on the raw material quality and production processes. The high fat content of commercial puff pastry usu...

Incorporation of fibres in durum wheat pasta, whether insoluble or soluble, negatively impacts desirable end-use properties especially if incorporated in significant amounts. Fibres can disrupt the starch-protein matrix of the dough during pasta preparation, and can also often swell more readily with water than starch, competing with the starch for...

In a scenario of climate change and rapidly rising urban populations demanding processed foods, it is necessary to develop new wheat cultivars combining high yield potential, disease resistance, and stability for yield and processing quality, even under heat or drought stress conditions. Allelic variation for gluten proteins (glutenin subunits and...

To extend the production base of durum wheat in Australia, field trials were conducted on seven registered durum varieties across four seasons and six sites in locations where irrigation was supplied during crop growth. The purpose was to determine if the quality of the grain produced met the requirements for good milling and pasta-making quality a...

Pasta is a food well suited to supplementation as a functional food because it is stable in storage, is typically consumed in large quantities, and has a texture that is less easily reduced in quality by addition of non-standard ingredients relative to other composite cereal foods. In this chapter, the health benefits of supplementing pasta with di...

Durum wheat (Triticum turgidum ssp. durum) is typically used to produce pasta. In some parts of the world, it is used to make bread but with inferior loaf volume and texture compared with common wheat bread. This study describes the effect on technological properties of pasta and bread made from durum wheat cv. Svevo (recurrent parent (S), HMW-GS n...

Durum wheat (Triticum turgidum ssp. durum) is typically used to produce pasta. In some parts of the world, it is used to make bread but with inferior loaf volume and texture compared with common wheat bread. This study describes the effect on technological properties of pasta and bread made from durum wheat cv. Svevo (recurrent parent (S), HMW-GS n...

Kernel hardness of cereal grains is a fundamental phenotype and various protocols for its characterization have been proposed. Though, from different perspectives, each has proved useful, these methods do not directly address the rheological/fracturing response of a grain when subjected to compression. Such information is hidden in the individual c...

Foods with elevated levels of resistant starch (RS) may have beneficial effects on human health. Pasta was enriched with commercial resistant starches (RSII, Hi Maize™ 1043; RSIII, Novelose 330™) at 10%, 20% and 50% substitution of semolina for RSII and 10% and 20% for RSIII and compared with pasta made from 100% durum wheat semolina to investigate...

UMR IATE Axe 5 : Application intégrée de la connaissance, de l’information et des technologies permettant d’accroître la qualité et la sécurité des aliments

Durum wheat (Triticum turgidum ssp. durum) is typically used to produce pasta. In some parts of the world, it is used to make bread but with inferior loaf volume and texture compared with common wheat bread. This study describes the effect on technological properties of pasta and bread made from durum wheat cv. Svevo (recurrent parent (S), HMW-GS n...

Investigation of two inulins with differing degrees of polymerisation and crystallinity demonstrated different levels of integration with the starch–gluten matrix during pasta preparation. The impact of higher molecular weight inulin incorporation on technological and sensory properties was minimal, with deterioration in properties becoming signifi...

Incorporation in pasta of either of two soluble fibres, carboxymethylcellulose sodium salt (CMC) and guar gum (GG), was found to significantly reduce the rate of invitro starch digestion. The amount of reducing sugars produced over 300 min was reduced by 18% at 1.5% CMC incorporation and 24% at 20% GG incorporation. Negative effects on sensory and...

β-Glucan is known to have valuable properties for preventative health and is finding widespread use in foods. This study investigated the benefit of adding a commercial source of β-glucan, Barley Balance (BB) flour, as a functional ingredient in spaghetti. Durum wheat semolina was substituted with BB at levels of 7.5, 15, and 20%, from which spaghe...

Insoluble fibres are important in human health and disease prevention and can be incorporated into food. High fibre pasta prepared with bran is typically inferior quality compared to durum pasta. This study compared spaghetti prepared from durum semolina substituted with various amounts of either durum bran or germ (pollard) dried at high temperatu...

he most extensive and comprehensive reference on durum wheat chemistry and technology ever available, this ambitious update to the first edition covers more diverse and interesting topics in a new expanded format. Forty-six contributors, each highly experienced and recognized as world authorities on durum wheat, provide the latest developments in s...

The most extensive and comprehensive reference on durum wheat chemistry and technology ever available, this ambitious update to the first edition covers more diverse and interesting topics in a new expanded format. Forty-six contributors, each highly experienced and recognized as world authorities on durum wheat, provide the latest developments in...

UMR IATE Axe 5 : Application intégrée de la connaissance, de l’information et des technologies permettant d’accroître la qualité et la sécurité des aliments

Black point (BP, discoloration restricted to the germ end of cereal seed) and dark smudge (DS, discoloration mostly along the crease) are believed to be caused by fungal infection in grain exposed to high humidity, although it has also been reported that BP might result from abiotic stresses causing physiological changes in grain. The objective of...

Pasta was prepared with modifications designed to alter its rate of digestion, including altering the ratio of A- to B-granules, incorporating higher amylose content, and varying the glutenin:gliadin ratio and HMW:LMW glutenin subunit ratio. The effects of these modifications were investigated using an in vitro hydrolysis method. A significant redu...

Blackpoint (BPt) is a brown or black discoloration at the germ end of the grain and occurs in most locations where durum wheat [Triticum turgidum L ssp. durum (Desf.) Husn.] is grown throughout the world. Its presence causes downgrading at market due to the undesirable black specks in semolina and derived pasta. Durum wheat appears to show differen...

The effects of transglutaminase (TG) on the properties of semolina dough and pasta cooking properties in durum-only and fiber-enriched pasta were investigated. TG was blended at levels 0, 0.05, 0.1, 0.25, 0.5, and 1% of semolina weight with semolina and semolina-pollard (60% w/w) and semolina-guar gum (15%) mixtures. The addition of TG increased do...

BACKGROUND: Information on the variation in water-extractable arabinopolymers (WEAP) in durum wheat and their impact on pasta quality is limited. A survey of the content of WEAP in selected bread wheat varieties and durum wheat was conducted and the influence of water-extractable arabinoxylans (WEAX) on dough and spaghetti quality was examined by f...

BACKGROUND: During the milling of durum wheat to semolina, about 10–15% of total products produced is residue flour, a lower value product than the semolina. This study investigated the potential for using the durum residue flour as an additive in bread‐making to improve its potential commercial value. RESULTS: Incorporation of residue durum flour...

A standardized method to determine cooked spaghetti firmness was developed. The effects of process and instrument variables were investigated and optimized to provide reproducible results between laboratories and to enable discrimination among samples with similar firmness characteristics. Commercial spaghetti samples of varying thickness were chos...

Pasta is a popular food whose quality can be measured by appearance, flavour and texture. Several instruments have been devised to measure texture but there is little comparative information. This study compared the TA.XT2i texture analyser with the viscoelastograph of thirty spaghetti samples. There was a high correlation between these instruments...

Durum wheat (Triticum turgidum L.) is the preferred raw material for the production of pasta worldwide and some speciality bread common in parts of Italy and the Mediterranean region. The quality of such foods in terms of texture, colour, flavour and appearance are determined by raw material quality, processing methods and other ingredients. This r...

Protein is an important component of grain which affects the technological properties of durum wheat. It is known that the amount and composition of protein can influence dough rheology and pasta quality but the influence of the major classes of protein is not well documented. The influence of the various gluten components on dough and pasta proper...

Cereal Chem. 83(5):513–519 To obtain an indication of the effect of increasing the starch amylose content above normal levels (27–74%) and increasing the percentage of B-type starch granules (11–60%) on durum dough properties and the quality of the spaghetti derived from these doughs, the reconstitution approach was used. Reconstituted flours were...

Selected Indian durum wheats including five newly released varieties and seven landraces were studied for their grain quality, gluten strength (sodium dodecyl sulphate-sedimentation and mixograph) and pasta making properties. Landraces were found to have good grain size, protein content, and gluten strength but they had lower test weight and semoli...

Within the Australian marketplace it is a generally believed that there are differences between Italian and Australian made spaghettis. Imported commercial dried Italian spaghettis (15) were compared with nine Australian made products using both a trained sensory panel and instrumental texture measurements. The sensory panel could not distinguish t...

The breeding of new cereal grain varieties requires methods that are rapid and preferably non-destructive, to assess the quality of grain in early generations. Near infrared (NIR) spectroscopy has great potential to meet these requirements for the durum wheat breeder. In this study, sample sets representing durum wheats from an Australian durum bre...