Performance of some Romanian winter wheat cultivars under organic agriculture. II. Bread making quality indices

In order to explore genetic possibilities for producing wheat suitable to bread-making industry requirements, we tested 16 Romanian winter wheat cultivars in yield tests organized in South Romania at Fundulea, during 2019-2022. Grain protein concentration was generally low, only line  DL Amurg fulfilling on average, but not every year, the requirements for Grade 1 (in Romania, the requirements for organic wheat are the same as for conventional wheat, although the protein content is generally lower under organic conditions). Most tested cultivars belonged to Grade 3, with average grain protein content below 11%. A significant part of grain protein variation was associated with grain yield variation, but two genotypes (FDL Amurg and Voinic) showed positive deviations from the regression yield – grain protein content. Zeleny sedimentation and the alveograph W index were strongly correlated with grain protein percentage, suggesting that, in order to produce high quality wheat under organic agriculture, improving grain protein concentration, genetically or by crop management, is most important.