Degree of starchy endosperm separation from bran as a milling quality trait of wheat grain

• We determined the residual endosperm content of wheat bran as a milling trait.
• We determined varietal variation in the residual endosperm content of wheat bran.
• The residual endosperm content of bran showed a correlation with flour yield.
• The residual endosperm content of bran appears to be an important milling trait.

Easy and clean separation of starchy endosperm from bran during milling could have a significant contribution to the increased flour yield. Starch content and DMSO extractable content of bran were determined as the estimates for remnant endosperm content of bran for 61 and 100 soft red winter (SRW) wheat genotypes grown in 2013 and 2014, respectively. DMSO extractable content was found to be more reliable in the estimation of remnant endosperm content of bran than was starch content with better reproducibility. Flour yields of the 2013 and 2014 SRW wheat varieties tested ranged from 65.1 to 72.4% (w/w), and 63.6–73.9% (w/w), respectively. The remnant endosperm content of bran estimated using the DMSO extractable content ranged from 33.9 to 43.6% (w/w) and 35.4–47.4% (w/w) for the 2013 and 2014 crops, respectively. The remnant endosperm content was significantly related to flour yield with a correlation coefficient of r = −0.54 (P < 0.001) from the 2014 crop, which was greater than that for any other grain characteristics including test weight, kernel hardness, and kernel weight. The degree of endosperm separation varied with different wheat varieties, different bran pieces and even different parts of the same piece of bran.