Analysis of Variation of Fatty Acid Profiles in Novel Wild Wheat Introgressions for the Identification of High Oleic Wheat Lines

Bitterness in whole wheat bread has been attributed primarily to the oxidation of linoleic acid, the main polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA) in wheat. Thus, decreasing PUFA, while increasing the more stable monounsaturated fatty acids (MUFA), may increase acceptability of whole wheat bread by decreasing bitterness. The aim of this study was to determine the fatty acid composition in a panel of wild wheat introgression lines to identify lines with high MUFA/PUFA ratios. Eighteen introgression lines derived from crosses between two bread wheat cultivars (KanMark and KS090387K-20) and Triticum dicoccoides (wild emmer) were grown in Hays, KS in 2023 and Ashland, KS in 2022 along with the commercial bread wheat cultivars, in duplicate. Fatty acids were quantified in whole milled seed by gas chromatography. The fatty acids showed significant genotypic variation across lines, with broad sense heritability values ranging from 0.483 to 0.634. Dunnett’s test showed 7 lines out of the 11 lines derived from KanMark, and 2 lines of the 7 derived from KS090387K-20 had significantly increased MUFA/PUFA ratios. While 8 lines increased in total fatty acid concentration, 3 lines showed a significantly higher MUFA/PUFA ratio without a significant increase in total fatty acids. These findings indicate high potential for the breeding of high oleic wheat for reduced bitterness and increased consumer acceptance of whole wheat bread.