Effect ofNysius huttonion the protein and baking properties of two New Zealand wheat cultivars

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Abstract
Nysius huttoni was caged on plots of two New Zealand cultivars, Rongotea and Karamu, at the watery-ripe stage of grain development. Cultivar Karamu had 100% visibly injured kernels and three times more insect bite marks than ‘Rongotea’ which had 89% injured kernels. Grists containing 50% bug-damaged wheat of either cultivar produced bread with severe bug-damage characteristics. Grists containing 1–10% bug damaged kernels produced bread of reduced quality but not classified as bug-damaged. Both cultivars were equally susceptible to the effects of bug damage in the baking test. SDS-sedimentation tests and SDS-PAGE revealed proteolysis of gluten proteins consistent with that previously demonstrated for bug-damaged commercial wheat lines. High and low molecular weight glutenin subunits were affected by insect enzyme. This study provides further evidence to suggest that N. huttoni is one of the insect species causing technologically significant bug damage in New Zealand wheats.