Impact of Wheat <i>Glu‐B3</i> LMW‐GS Allelic Variation on Dough and Noodle Quality: A Near‐Isogenic Line Study Across Two‐Background and Multi‐Season

Low-molecular-weight glutenin subunits (LMW-GS) significantly influence wheat quality. In this study, near-isogenic lines (NILs) with LMW-GS allelic variations Glu-B3d, Glu-B3g, Glu-B3h, and Glu-B3j in the backgrounds of Zhoumai-22 (ZM22) and Zhoumai-23 (ZM23) were used. The ZM22 NILs were grown in 2021-2022 and 2022-2023, while the ZM23 NILs were grown in 2022-2023 and 2023-2024. After milling, their protein and gluten content, gluten and dough quality, cooking quality of fresh wet noodle (FWN), texture properties of cooked FWN and frozen cooked noodle (FZN) were analyzed. The results showed that the allelic variation Glu-B3g increased protein and gluten content, enhanced gluten index, and improved dough rheological properties and texture properties (hardness, springiness, and chewiness) of cooked FWN. In contrast, the Glu-B3d and Glu-B3h variants exhibited superior hardness in cooked FZN, with Glu-B3h further displaying reduced adhesiveness. Conversely, the Glu-B3j allele negatively affected most noodle texture parameters, reducing the hardness, springiness, and chewiness of cooked FWN, as well as the hardness, cohesiveness, and chewiness of cooked FZN. These findings provide theoretical guidance for the breeding of high-quality noodle-specific wheat varieties and the improvement of specialized wheat flour.