Michael D. Peel

NDSU Extension Agronomist

Hard white wheat is wheat with white bran and hard endosperm. Potential advantages of hard white wheat include a unique combination of processing centered around bran color and bran flavor. Bran color is determined by three genes, when the allele for red is present at any of the three genetic loci the bran is red.

Hard white wheat can have the same good baking characteristics of hard red wheat and in addition the added advantage of a white bran. White bran does not impart the bitter taste of red bran and is less noticeable in whole bran products. Hard white wheat is also preferred over hard red wheat in countries where noodles, flat breads and steamed breads are popular, a critical quality factor in these products is a bright white color that is easier to obtain from hard white wheat.

Bran from red wheat is a by-product of the milling industry utilized by the feed industry. In some sectors of the feed industry such as shrimp production in Malaysia white bran is preferred. Furthermore, bran from white wheat should be more of a co-product and demand a higher price and meet an increasing demand for high fiber foods. Whole hard white wheat can be used to increase fiber of food products with less alteration of color or flavor, and should be useful in developing new high fiber foods.

Hard white wheat is more desirable than hard red wheat for Asian noodles. The red bran associated with hard red wheats produce an undesirable gray colored noodle. Hard white wheats produce a whiter noodle, that maintains its whiteness, preferred by the Asian noodle market. Hard white wheat is also preferred for flat breads and steamed bread consumed in many areas of the world.

Management of a high protein bread type hard white wheats like Argent is not much different than for a traditional hard red spring wheat produced in the Northern Plains. Historic reasons for growing exclusively hard red wheats for bread in the U.S. are due in part to the ability of red wheat to withstand pre-harvest germination. White wheat is typically more susceptible to pre-harvest germination, for this reason they should be harvested as soon as they are ripe. Delayed harvest of white wheat, particularly during a wet period, will result in lower falling number. There are some varieties describes as having higher tolerance to pre-harvest germination, one with probable adaptation to the Northern Plains is AC Vista.

Hard white wheat should not be confused with soft white wheat which is produced in the Pacific North West. Soft white wheats which are used for cakes, cookies and pastries do not have the gluten characteristics of hard wheats. Protein targets for soft white wheats are 10.0% or lower. For this reason when producing soft white wheat the traditional nitrogen application of 2.5 lbs for each bushel of expected yield is to high. A more reasonable nitrogen rate would be 1.7 to 2.0 lb for each bushel of expected yield (remember the yield goal must be reasonable). The same consideration should be given to timely harvest of soft whites to avoid pre-harvest sprout damage.

Contamination of hard white wheat can quickly result in loss of any increased

value. Particularly problematic is buckwheat, which is nearly impossible to remove from the grain. Noodles made from flour milled from wheat contaminated with wild buckwheat have dark specks making them less desirable to the final consumer.

In May of 1990 official U.S. Grain Standards for white wheat were modified to include hard white wheat as a new class. The new class is to include only hard endosperm white wheat and does not differentiate between winter and spring. Argent, a NDSU HWW variety, has a vitreous hard amber kernel. Because of the hard vitreous nature of Argent it has a red hue and will be classified as Dark Northern Spring.

Not all hard white wheat varieties have acceptable noodle making quality. To meet the minimum requirements of a good noodle wheat the variety must impart good color stability. Color stability is largely achieved when a variety has low levels of the enzyme polyphenol oxidase. Table 1 list some hard white varieties and their intended use.

Protein and gluten characteristics desired of a good noodle wheat are different than those for bread baking. High protein and high gluten are desirable for bread, while a low to mid protein range with less gluten strength is desired for most types of noodles.

Some export customers are interested in white wheat only. One of these is Malaysia where the current US market share is 1.4%. Millers in Malaysia have indicated they will purchase hard white wheat from the US, currently production is not sufficient to export large quantities.

Domestic millers have expressed an interest in hard white wheat. With a few exceptions most have not offered large enough premiums to encourage large acreage production of hard white wheat.

Before growing hard white wheat a producer is advised to secure a market for the crop.

Table 1. Hard white wheat varieties. Argent and Ac Vista have the best adaptation to the Northern Plains.

*Experimental numbers, varieties have been released but not named.