Spaghetti was processed in a semi-commercial scale laboratory press from a range of raw materials, dried by a low temperature (LT) and a high temperature (HT) drying cycle, and assessed for stickiness and other important cooking quality attributes in cooking waters of varying hardness. Cooked HT spaghetti was generally less sticky, more resilient, firmer, and exhibited lower cooking loss than corresponding LT spaghetti. As cooking water hardness increased spaghetti became stickier and cooking loss increased. Stickiness was influenced by cultivar, wheat class, raw material granulation and protein content, but was not related to sprout damage. Stickiness was significantly correlated to cooking loss, cooked weight, degree of swelling, compressibility, recovery, and firmness. However, even when all these factors were included in a step-up regression less than 50% of the variance in stickiness could be predicted.

The characteristics of spaghetti produced from two high temperature (HT) drying cycles, one featuring HT at the initial stages of drying (HT‐A) and one featuring HT during the latter stages of drying (HT‐B) were compared to spaghetti produced by low temperature (LT) drying. Both HT cycles had the advantage of greatly reduced drying time. In addition HT‐A spaghetti exhibited much enhanced color intensity compared to LT spaghetti. Although HT‐A spaghetti cooking properties were marginally inferior to LT spaghetti, cooking quality was still satisfactory. Spaghetti from HT‐B was equal to or better than LT spaghetti in color quality while also exhibiting improved strand strength and superior cooking properties.

Orange wheat blossom midge damage can impart serious loss of quality to Canadian hard red spring wheat. The extent of wheat quality deterioration is highly variable and not well related to degree of visual midge damage. Midge-damaged hard red spring wheat exhibits very high protein content, reduced flour yield, dark flour color, increased flour ash, weak sticky dough properties, low baking absorption and poor bread quality. Midge-damaged wheat contains normal levels of α-amylase and proteolytic enzymes. Severely midge-damaged wheat exhibits inferior gluten protein quality, but the cause remains obscure. The poor baking quality of severely midge-damaged wheat is associated with an unusually low sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) sedimentation volume. Samples with visual evidence of midge damage can be rapidly screened for quality defects on the basis of protein content and SDS-sedimentation volume. Aerial applications of Cygon and Lorsban to fields of midge-infested hard red spring wheat significantly reduced visual midge damage, and significantly reduced the extent of wheat quality deterioration.Key words: Midge (orange wheat blossom), wheat (spring), insecticide treatment

Canada Western Red Spring (CWRS) wheat exhibits consistent positive relationships between kernel weight and farinograph and baking water absorption. These relationships are sufficiently robust to be statistically significant (P < 0.05) for historical Canadian Grain Commission harvest survey data generated one year apart for 17 years, and for historical data on individual cultivars in advanced Canadian wheat breeding trials, also generated annually. Verification of the relationships were obtained by analyzing different kernel size fractions obtained by sieving CWRS harvest survey samples and pure CWRS cultivars from various origins. In all cases, highly significant positive relationships were observed between kernel size and water absorption. The relationships were evident for individual streams from pilot‐scale millings of sized fractions from CWRS harvested in two different years. Strong correlations of kernel weight to farinograph and baking absorption also were shown for sized fractions from commercial samples of American Dark Northern Spring and Australian Prime Hard wheat. The strong statistical association between kernel size and water absorption could not be explained on the basis of wheat hardness (flour starch damage), protein content, or dough strength. In view of the importance of flour water absorption to bakers, further investigation is warranted to identify the cause for the association between large kernel size and high water absorption.

A laboratory procedure for preparing and evaluating end-product characteristics of Chinese steamed buns from Canadian wheat flours is described. A blend of 60% Canada Western Red Winter (80% patent) and 40% Canada Western Soft White Spring (straight grade) wheat flours was evaluated and subsequently used as the control flour. Buns were prepared by a straight dough procedure using only flour, yeast and water. Evaluation of bun quality included measurement of volume with a loaf volumeter, symmetry by the width-to-height ratio, physical measurements of hardness, cohesiveness and gumminess with the Instron Universal Testing Machine, and color (L*, a*, b*) of crust and crumb using the HunterLab Labscan II Colorimeter. Buns prepared from different classes of Canadian wheats were evaluated. Both Canada Western Red Winter and Canada Western Red Spring wheat flours produced steamed buns which were similar to the control, whereas those made from a non-blended Canada Western Soft White wheat flour produced a less appealing product.Key words: Wheat, steamed buns, test-baking, flour, quality evaluation