Starch content in wheat is an important characteristic for various purposes. Starch is composed of two components known as amylose and amylopectin, and the proportion between these two components plays a crucial role in determining the properties and structure of starch. One of the key genes involved in starch biosynthesis in wheat is granule bound starch synthase I (GBSSI), also known as the waxy protein, which synthesizes amylose in the endosperm. A mutant cultivar, named Gunji-3, was created by crossing the waxy type wheat (Shinmichal 1) with the wild type bread wheat (Keumkang). When comparing the Wx-B1 allele of the waxy protein gene in Gunji-3 with that of the waxy type wheat, there were 12 SNPs and one deletion difference. Additionally, when comparing amino acid sequences with Wx-B1 alleles, differences at two positions are found, indicating that the mutant carries new Wx-B1 allele which is named as Wx-B1o. In terms of the physicochemical properties of Gunji-3 starch, it had a lower amylose content than the parental wheat varieties and showed higher protein content and greater swelling power. These newly introduced waxy type wheat could provide important basis not only for understanding the starch characteristics of wheat but also for various breeding programs.

Waxy rice is one of the most popular traditional crops served as a staple food in China. In this study, the effect of different factors including α-amylase activity, protein, and amylopectin structure on the pasting properties of four waxy rice varieties were investigated. Rice flours treated with AgNO3 solution, DL-dithiothreitol (DTT) or protease, suggested that both α-amylase activity and protein significantly decrease the pasting viscosity of waxy rice flours. Chain length distribution of amylopectin as measured by high performance ion exchange chromatography (HPAEC-PAD) showed that starch with higher ratio of short chain leading to a higher pasting viscosity. X-Ray diffractograms showed that the crystal type of all the four varieties of rice starches were characteristic A-type. Relative crystallinity of each rice starch was further calculated, and a higher crystallization resulted in a higher viscosity. Our study would provide a fundamental knowledge of the relationship between different factors and waxy starch pasting properties, as well as be a reference for controlling the quality of waxy rice starch-based food.

Foxtail millet, a traditional cereal crop, has gained increasing attention for its high nutritional value and potential health benefits. This study aimed to investigate the simultaneous and rapid detection of amylose and amylopectin content of foxtail millet flour under different sheep manure application rates by hyperspectral imaging combined with chemometrics. The spectral data preprocessing used multiplicative scatter correction (MSC), and the combined algorithm of competitive adaptive reweighted sampling (CARS), random frog (RF), iterated retaining informative variables (IRIV) were employed for key band extraction. The partial least squares regression (PLSR) was then used to establish the prediction model and the regression equation, that was used to visualize the two components. Results demonstrated the key band extraction combined algorithm effectively reduced data dimension without compromising the accuracy of the prediction model. The prediction model for amylose using MSC-RF-IRIV-PLSR exhibited good performance, with the correlation coefficient (R) and root mean square error (RMSE) predicted to be 0.73 and 1.23, respectively. Similarly, the prediction model for amylopectin using MSC-CARS-IRIV-PLSR also demonstrated good performance, with the R and RMSE predicted to be 0.59 and 7.34, respectively. Then, the visualization graph generated clearly shows under the condition of applying 6 m3 of sheep manure, the amount of amylopectin accumulation was highest, and the amount of amylose was lowest. The experimental results offer valuable insights for the rapid detection of nutritional components in foxtail millet, serving as a basis for further research.

Wencheng waxy yam is famous for its glutinous and resilient taste, similar to waxy rice, but there is currently a lack of systematic research on the quality of this featured product, and little is known about its pesticide residues. We carried out a 2-year investigation of Wencheng waxy yam at seven sites from 2021 to 2022 to determine the oxidase content and phytochemical characteristics, namely amylose, amylopectin, protein, reducing sugar, and mineral contents such as K, Fe, and Zn, , including the status of pesticide residues. The results showed that oxidase content was affected by rainfall, and adequate water reduced the production of oxidase, including polyphenol oxidase (PPO), peroxidase (POD), and superoxide dismutase (SOD), during the late growth stage of waxy yam, which was beneficial for reducing browning in yam processing. Radar map analysis showed that, with comprehensive evaluation, standardized production sites 1 and 2 had a relatively higher quality than 3–7 with small farmers. The results of pesticide multi-residue testing showed that no pesticides were detected in 64.29% samples, and the detected residues samples were very low, making the consumption of yam safe for consumers. These findings could be beneficial for the exploitation of the health benefits of waxy yam tubers and the innovation of yam-based functional products.