Influence of nitrogen fertilizer application rate on winter wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) flour quality and Chinese noodle quality

BACKGROUND: Understanding wheat flour noodle quality responses to N management will improve the quality of recommendations made to growers for specific end-uses. Two winter wheat cultivars, with six N rates, planted during the course of a 2-year experiment were used to determine the effect of N application rate on Chinese white noodle quality. RESULTS: Wheat flour protein content, development time (DT) and stability time (ST) increased with N application rate, maximal at 360 kg N ha(-1) and decreasing thereafter. When the N fertilizer application rate changed from 0 to 270 or 360 kg N ha(-1), redness (a*) and yellowness (b*) of both flour and noodle increased, while brightness (L*) decreased. The hardness and chewiness of cooked noodles improved at lower N application rate and degenerated at higher N rate. CONCLUSION: A low rate of N fertilizer application (from 0 to 270 kg N ha(-1)) improved flour quality. Flour protein content and protein quality parameters displayed a significant negative correlation with brightness (L*) values. Generally, high flour protein content and protein quality, as well as good noodle texture, could be achieved by topdressing N fertilizer (in the range 270-360 kg N ha(-1)). (C) 2009 Society of Chemical Industry