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Revolutionising wheat: Developing cultivars that maintain their quality in heat and drought

28 April 2023 | Story Leonie Bolleurs | Photo Supplied

UFS PhD student and food scientist Schae-Lee Olckers’ research could contribute to a stable supply of good quality wheat and bread, even in the face of climate change.

Follow your passion in order to find your purpose. This is the mantra of food scientist and University of the Free State (UFS) PhD student Schae-Lee Olckers, whose research is set to improve wheat quality by identifying which types of wheat are better able to tolerate stress, and which proteins are most important for producing high-quality bread.

“By grasping this, it is possible to ensure that we continue to have a stable supply of good quality wheat and bread, even in the face of climate change,” says Olckers, who believes wheat is one of the most important food grains in the human diet, and one of the most important staple cereal crops in the world.

Her PhD study, ‘The influence of abiotic stress on gluten protein and baking quality in bread wheat’, under the supervision of Dr Angie van Biljon and Prof Maryke Labuschagne in the Department of Plant Sciences, and Prof Garry Osthoff in the Department of Microbiology and Biochemistry, is investigating how different levels of heat and drought stress – mostly due to climate change – affect the gluten protein composition of high-yield bread wheat.

Olckers is a food scientist at StartWell Foods (Pty) Ltd, a non-profit organisation that produces high-quality extrusion products for feeding schemes around the country. The products help to eliminate stunted growth among children.

Improving wheat breeding programmes

This research could help us find ways to adapt to climate change and continue to produce high-quality wheat and bread for people around the world. – Schae-Lee Olckers

Her research focuses on examining different types of wheat and investigating how proteins are affected by stressors like heat and drought, to understand how these stressors impact the quality of bread. She uses new proteomic methods to look at the different proteins in the wheat flour, to gain a better appreciation of how gluten proteins react to stress.

In this study Olckers is able to see how the proteins change in the various wheat cultivars, helping us to understand how the different types of wheat perform in baking, and how the proteins affect the final product.

She collaborates with the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) in Mexico, that releases new wheat cultivars for developing countries. Their aim is to develop wheat cultivars that maintain their quality in different environments. To investigate the performance and characteristics of the seeds, both in the field and in the laboratory, CIMMYT did the field trials, quality assessment, and supplied the seeds for high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) and proteomics analysis.

Finding ways to adapt to climate change

She believes that understanding how these stressors impact the production of bread-baking quality in wheat will help scientists gain important insights into how climate change affects our food supply.

“Taking into consideration the current and projected intensifying heat and water deficit stresses, it is crucial to improve the understanding of these phenomena in order to implement new breeding strategies for sustainable wheat quality. This research could help us find ways to adapt to climate change and continue to produce high-quality wheat and bread for people around the world,” Olckers says.

News Archive

Alumni Voices heralds in festive season with Karl Jenkins production

2013-11-20

The Alumni Voices Chamber Choir, affiliated to the Alumni office of the University of the Free State, heralds in the festive season with a Christmas production with the Drakensberg Boys’ Choir.

Date: 23 and 24 November 2013
Time: 19:30 (23 November 2013)
16:00 (24 November 2013)
Venue: Odeion
Cost: R120

The production by the two choirs, under the direction of Leona Geldenhuys (Alumni Voices) and Johann van der Sandt (Drakensberg Boys’ Choir), is a compilation of new Christmas music by Karl Jenkins.

Two cycles, Stella Natalis, made up from new compositions, and Joy to the World, compiled from well-known traditional Christmas music, are combined in this production.

Stella Natalis (Star of Birth or Star of Origin) celebrates the different aspects of Christmas – Celebro – celebrations, Lullay – the sleeping child, Dona nobis pacem – message of peace, and Jubilate Deo – thanksgiving, forms part of the programme.

The part: JOY TO THE WORLD also includes traditional Christmas music. This fresh and vibrant arrangement of In dulci jubilo, Go Tell it on the Mountain, Silent Night, O Jesu so sweet, Son of Maria and The Virgin Mary had a Baby boy, all new arrangements by Karl Jenkins, promises to be an exciting experience.

This work, which conveys the Christmas message of peace, goodwill and compassion, as well as new beginnings, evokes a colour palette of sound filled with exciting musical inspiration.

The work was written for mixed choir, as well as for an optional choir suitable for children’s voices, trumpet soloist, keyboard, percussion and string ensemble.

The trumpet soloist is Paul Loeb van Zuilenburg, with Johan Cromhout as pianist. Members of the Free State Symphony Orchestra complete the picture.

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