Effects of Wheat Bug (Eurygaster spp. and Aelia spp.) Infestation in Preharvest Period on Wheat Technological Quality and Gluten Composition

The effects of wheat bug infestation (Eurygaster spp. and Aelia spp.) on the composition of wheat gluten proteins and its influence on flour technological quality were investigated in the present study. Wheat samples of six wheat varieties, collected from two localities in northern Serbia, were characterized by significantly different level of wheat bug infestation. Composition of wheat gluten proteins was determined using sodium dodecyl sulphate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS PAGE), while the selected parameters of technological quality were determined according to standard and modified empirical rheological methods (Farinograph, Extensograph, Alveograph, and Gluten Index). The surface morphology of the selected samples was viewed using scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Wheat from wheat bug-infested locality regardless of the variety had deteriorated technological quality expressed with higher Farinograph softening degree, lower or immeasurable Extensograph energy, and Alveograph deformation energy. The most important changes in the gluten proteins composition of bug-infested wheat were related to gliadin subunits with molecular weights below 75 kDa, which consequently caused deterioration of uniaxial and biaxial extensibility and dough softening during mixing.