Protein use efficiency and stability of baking quality in winter wheat based on the relation of loaf volume and grain protein content

KEY MESSAGE: A novel approach based on the loaf volume–grain protein content relation is suggested to consider the static protein use efficiency and stability as efficient quality-related descriptors for wheat varieties. ABSTRACT: The most important trait for baking quality of winter wheat is loaf volume (V). It is mostly determined by grain protein content (GPC) and quality. New varieties with a high potential of grain protein use efficiency (ProtUE) are very important for reducing the surplus use of nitrogen fertilizer in areas where nitrogen leaching is large. This is also an important goal of agricultural policies in the European Union. Additionally, ProtUE needs to be very stable across environments in the face of progressing climate change with more volatile growing conditions. We evaluated a new approach to assess ProtUE and stability based on the V–GPC relationship instead of using only single traits. The study comprised 11,775 baking tests from 355 varieties grown 1988–2019 in 668 different environments in Germany. V was predicted by quadratic and linear regression functions for quality groups, indicating a reduction of ProtUE from 1988 to 2019. We introduced a dynamic and a static approach to assess ProtUE and stability as potential criteria in variety registration. We found a considerably lower heritability of the dynamic ProtUE (h(2) = 43%) compared to the static ProtUE (h(2) = 92%) and a lower dynamic stability (h(2) = 32%) than for the static stability (h(2) = 51%). None of these measures is in conflict with the selection for high V. In particular, V and static ProtUE are strongly genetically associated (r = 0.81), indicating an advantage of the static over the dynamic approach. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s00122-022-04034-x.