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 ). Copyright © 2009 Society of Chemical Industry