The influence of grain hardness on technological indicators of wheat (review)

The current review has considered the works of Russian and foreign scientists devoted to the influence of grain hardness on the technological properties of wheat and has presented the main methods for its determination. Grain hardness is a numerical characteristic of the structural, mechanical (strength), and milling properties of wheat, characterized by a grinding degree, and significantly affecting its milling characteristics. Currently, there is no generally accepted method for determining grain hardness. There are various methods for determining grain hardness, which can be divided into the following groups: 1) a group of methods based on the analysis of the physical characteristics of a grain grinding process; 2) granulometric methods; 3) granulometric-fractographic methods (fractography); 4) methods based on the analysis of physical and chemical indicators of grain grinding; 5) methods for determining microhardness of grain; 6) a sedimentation analysis; 7) a Taylor method; 8) express analysis methods. However, currently available methods for determining grain hardness are labor-intensive, time-consuming, and lack comparability with other methods, limiting their use. Classifying wheat grain according to grain hardness has not found a widespread use in Russia. In some countries, such as Canada, the United States, and Australia, wheat grain is divided into hard and soft. In the American classification system, unlike the Russian one, Triticum aestivum wheat is divided into types based on grain hardness, and this distinction appears first in the type names, i.e. hard or soft wheat. This is crucial, as due to differences in their technological properties, hard and soft wheat have different intended uses.

1. Abugalieva A.I., Pen’ya Kh.R., Buts’ A.A., Savin T.V. Tverdozernost’ i sostav glyutenina ozimoi pshenitsy i ee gibridov s dikimi sorodichami [Grain hardness and glutenin composition of winter wheat and its hybrids with wild relatives] //Sibirskii vestnik sel’skokhozyaistvennoi nauki. 2012. № 2 (225). S. 105-112

2. Gur’eva K.B., Khaba N.A., Beletskii S.L. Kompleksnyi podkhod k otsenke pshenitsy pri dlitel’nom khranenii [An integrated approach to assessing wheat during a long-term storage] // Sovremennaya nauka: aktual’nye voprosy, dostizheniya i innovatsii. Monografiya. MTsNS «Nauka i prosveshchenie». Penza, 2023. S. 194-220

3. Efremova T.T., Arbuzova V.S. Rol’ khromosom 5-i gomeologicheskoi gruppy v kontrole tverdozernosti i soderzhaniya belka v zerne zameshchennykh linii myagkoi pshenitsy Saratovskaya 29 [The role of chromosomes of the 5th homeologous group in controlling grain hardness and protein percentage in grain of substituted lines of common wheat Saratovskaya 29] // Genetika. 2011. T.47, № 5. S. 624-632

4. Zhiganova E.S., Sadygova M.K., Chernykh V.Ya., Tsetva N.M., Solovova N.S., Osyka I.A. Kompleksnaya otsenka tekhnologicheskikh svoistv novykh sortov pshenitsy saratovskoi selektsii dlya proizvodstva makaronnykh izdelii [A comprehensive assessment of the technological properties of new wheat varieties bred in Saratov for pasta production] // Khranenie i pererabotka sel’khozsyr’ya. 2024. № 3. S. 92-103. DOI: 10.36107/spfp.2024.3.587

5. Koshkin M.N., Vinogradova A.O., Pototskaya I.V. Analiz urozhainosti i kachestva zerna otechestvennykh i zarubezhnykh sortov yarovoi myagkoi pshenitsy v usloviyakh zapadnoi Sibiri [Analysis of productivity and grain quality of domestic and foreign spring common wheat varieties in Western Siberia] // Vestnik KrasGAU. 2025. № 1 (214). S. 25-32. DOI: 10.36718/1819-4036-2025-1-25-32

6. Medvedev P.V., Fedotov V.A., Bochkareva I.A., Luk’yanova E.S. Formirovanie khlebopekarnykh svoistv muki pod vliyaniem strukturno-mekhanicheskikh kachestv zerna pshenitsy [Formation of flour baking properties under the effect of the structural and mechanical properties of wheat grain] // Mezhdunarodnyi nauchno-issledovatel’skii zhurnal. 2022. № 7-1 (121). S. 6-8. DOI: 10.23670/IRJ.2022.121.7.001

7. Meleshkina E.P. Osobennosti i osnovnye otlichiya standartov na pshenitsu v SShA i v Rossii [Characteristics and main differences among wheat standards in the USA and Russia] // Khleboprodukty. 2019. № 11. S. 22-26. DOI: 10.32462/0235-2508-2019-28-11-22-26

8. Netsvetaev V.P., Kozelets Ya.O., Ashcheulova A.P., Nerubenko O.E., Akinshina O.V. Pokazateli kachestva zerna ozimoi myagkoi pshenitsy i rol’ v etom nasledstvennykh faktorov, svyazannykh s uglevodnym kompleksom endosperma [Grain quality indicators of winter common wheat and the role of hereditary factors associated with the carbohydrate complex of the endosperm]// Genetika. 2020. T. 56, № 12. S. 1399-1409. DOI: 10.31857/S0016675820120115

9. Pankratov G.N. Granulometricheskii sostav produktov razmola [Particle size composition of milled grains]// Khleboprodukty. 2015. № 5. S. 46-49

10. Simonov A.V., Chistyakova A.K., Morozova E.V., Shchukina L.V., Berner A., Pshenichnikova T.A. Sozdanie novogo dlya myagkoi pshenitsy genotipa -nositelya dvukh lokusov myagkozernosti endosperma [Development of a new common wheat genotype carrying two endosperm softness loci] // Vavilovskii zhurnal genetiki i selektsii. 2017. T. 21, № 3. S. 341- 346. DOI: 10.18699/VJ17.251

11. Fedotov V.A. K voprosu otsenki kachestva pshenitsy po strukturno-mekhanicheskim svoistvam zerna [On the issue of evaluating wheat quality according to the structural and mechanical properties of grain] // Mezhdunarodnyi nauchnoissledovatel’skii zhurnal. 2017. № 8-3 (62). S. 80-82. DOI: 10.23670/IRJ.2017.62.028

12. Chernykh V.Ya., Maksimov A.S., Baluyan Kh.A. Klassifikatsiya tekhnologicheskikh svoistv pshenitsy po pokazatelyam tverdozernosti [Classification of technological properties of wheat according to indicators of grain hardness]// Khleboprodukty. 2023. № 6. S. 54-60. DOI: 10.32462/0235-2508-2023-32-6-54-60

13. Campbell, G.M. On Predicting Roller Milling Performance VI: Effect of Kernel Hardness and Shape on the Particle Size Distribution from First Break Milling of Wheat / G.M. Campbell, C. Fang. I.I. Muhamad // Food and Bioproducts Processing. 2007. 85 (1). PP. 7-23. https://doi.org/10.1205/FBP06005/