Increasing the Versatility of Durum Wheat through Modifications of Protein and Starch Composition and Grain Hardness

Although durum wheat (Triticum durum L. ssp. durum Desf.) has traditionally been used to make a range of food products, its use has been restricted due to the absence of the D-genome glutenin proteins, the relatively low variability in starch composition, and its very hard grain texture. This review focuses on the manipulation of the starch and protein composition and modification of the hardness of durum wheat in order to improve its technological and nutritional value and expand its utilization for application to a wider number of end products. Starch is composed of amylopectin and amylose in a 3:1 ratio, and their manipulation has been explored for achieving starch with modified composition. In particular, silencing of the genes involved in amylose and amylopectin synthesis has made it possible to isolate durum wheat lines with amylose content varying from 2–3% up to 75%. This has created opportunities for new products with different properties and enhanced nutritional value. Durum-made bread has generally inferior quality to bread made from common wheat. Attempts to introduce the Glu-D1 subunits 1Dx5 + 1Dy10 and 1Dx2 + 1Dy12 produced stronger dough, but the former produced excessively strong, inelastic doughs, and loaf volume was either inferior or not affected. In contrast, the 1Dx2 + 1Dy12 sometimes improved bread loaf volume (LV) depending on the glutenin subunit background of the genotype receiving these genes. Further breeding and selection are needed to improve the dough extensibility to allow higher LV and better texture. The versatility of durum wheat has been greatly expanded with the creation of soft-textured durum via non-GMO introgression means. This soft durum mills like soft hexaploid wheat and has similar baking properties. The pasta quality is also not diminished by the soft-textured kernels. The Glu-D1 locus containing the subunits 1Dx2 + 1Dy12 has also been introgressed to create higher quality soft durum bread.