Asian Products and Wheat Enzymes

Using our noodle

Canada Western Red Spring (CWRS) and Canada Prairie Spring White (CPSW) wheat classes are exported to make many kinds of noodles in countries throughout Asia. Providing and improving the noodle-making quality of Canadian wheat for diverse and discriminating markets are the main research areas involving the GRL's Asian Products and Wheat Enzymes teams.

Asian products research

Noodle colour, appearance, and cooked texture are very important to Asian noodle makers and consumers. The Asian Products team investigates these quality attributes in Canadian wheat and optimizes them in new varieties for Asian products. The team also explores new technologies for evaluating wheat qualities.

Wheat enzymes research

The enzyme polyphenol oxidase (PPO) in wheat is important in the formation of undesirable colours in noodle dough. The Wheat Enzymes team works with plant breeders to ensure new variety selections are low in PPO. The team monitors other oxidases-peroxidase in particular-for their impact on noodle discolouration. Research on other enzymes is used to set or change grading tolerances for wheat. For example, the team conducts research on proteases, the enzymes that are found in kernels damaged by Fusarium and wheat midge and that break down protein, and alpha-amylase, the enzyme associated with sprouting.

Technology, methods and standards

Asian Products staff use an Ohtake noodle machine imported from Japan to process noodles for research and quality testing. Texture analyzers are used in objective testing of cooked noodle texture. The HunterLab colorimeter measures brightness, redness and yellowness components to quantify changes and differences in noodle colour. The GRL has developed a digital imaging system to quantify and characterize specks in noodle dough that affect appearance.

Wheat Enzymes staff use a variety of enzyme assays approved by the American Association of Cereal Chemists (AACC) and the International Association for Cereal Science and Technology. Many of the lab's methods have been developed or modified by GRL staff.

Experience and expertise

The Asian Products team is represented on the Wheat Quality Subcommittee of the Prairie Registration Recommending Committee for Grain. The program manager participates internationally with the AACC, collaborates with Asian noodle manufacturers and makes frequent market support visits to the region. The Wheat Enzymes team is recognized internationally for its ground breaking work in pre-harvest sprouting problems associated with alpha-amylase.

Related information

Asian End-Product Testing at the Grain Research Laboratory

To find out more about our staff, their research and area of expertise, read the biographies for:

Dave Hatcher, Program Manager, Asian Products and Wheat Enzymes