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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

FS Premiers Documentary Film On Basotho King Moshoeshoe

2004-10-06

The University of the Free State (UFS) will premiere a documentary film on the legacy of King Moshoeshoe, Basotho leader of the nineteenth century for his role in nation-building and reconciliation on Wednesday 13 October 2004.

The hour-long documentary film, produced by the well-known journalist Mr Max du Preez, was commissioned by the UFS as part of its centenary celebrations.

“To us this film is a practical demonstration of the UFS’s commitment to the continued transformation of the campus, and its commitment to reconciliation and nation-building. It is seen as a contribution to one of the UFS’s key strategic priorities for this year, namely diversity, equity and redress,” says Prof Frederick Fourie, Rector and Vice-Chancellor of the UFS.

“Through these priorities, the UFS commits itself to developing a shared appreciation of the history of this country and to contribute to the establishment of the Free State Province as a model of reconciliation and nation building,” says Prof Fourie.

“King Moshoeshoe was a great African statesman and leader. He was born in this region of the country, but his influence and legacy extends way beyond the borders of the Free State, Lesotho and even way beyond the borders of South Africa,” says Prof Fourie.

Earlier this year the UFS launched a project to honor King Moshoeshoe. The project included among others the production of this documentary film, the possible presentation of an annual Moshoeshoe memorial lecture that will focus on African leadership, nation-building and reconciliation and PhD-level research into the life and legacy of King Moshoeshoe and a literary anthology including prose and poetry.

According to Prof Fourie the project will enable the UFS to give real meaning to words such as reconciliation, respect for the diversity of our languages and cultures, and the unity South Africans seek to build as a democratic nation through such diversity.

The documentary film on King Moshoeshoe will be screened on SABC 2 later this year.

Media release
Issued by: Lacea Loader
Media Representative
Tel: (051) 401-2584
Cell: 083 645 2454
E-mail: loaderl.stg@mail.uovs.ac.za
6 October 2004

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