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Grant will fund efforts to reduce celiac-causing proteins in wheatBy Randy Buhler Logan County Agent, Agronomy A recent article announced the award of a grant for $855,500 to Arcadia Biosciences to help fund Phase II development of wheat varieties with reduced celiac disease-causing proteins. The National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases and the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act combined to provide the Small Business Technology Transfer funding. Arcadia is a partner with Washington State University in the effort to improve wheat varieties. Phase I of the grant demonstrated the ability of a genetic screening technology to identify wheat plants with low levels of the damaging proteins. This project shows the value of land-grant universities and technology businesses cooperating to develop solutions to the problems of today. At first glance, it would seem strange to try to remove gluten proteins from wheat. There are plants that are naturally gluten free. The Rodney Dangerfield of small grains, namely proso millet, is one of those grains. Proso receives no funding for development. The answer lies in the nature of gluten. Gluten is a group of many proteins. These proteins are categorized into two main groups, the glutenins and gliadins. Each of the groups has proteins or peptides that create the immunological response of celiac disease. Gliadins are the more aggressive perpetrators of the immunological responses. Peptides are small pieces of proteins that are created by enzymes during the digestion process. Sometimes the peptides cause trouble while the parent proteins do not by themselves. Within the gluten are proteins that provide the structure for trapping the carbon dioxide released by yeast during the dough-rise phase of baking bread. The funded project seeks to keep those proteins for that ability to form a raised-dough product that we enjoy. Without these proteins, we would get a flat bread or cracker type of product. Proso millet is recognized for its gluten free nature. At present, millet is used as flour in flat breads, as gruel, and as cereal. It can be made into toubbouleh or couscous-like products. The waxy grain version of proso is suitable for noodle making. Because gluten acts as an emulsifier, it is included in its many forms in processed food products. This makes celiac sufferers lives even more difficult. The assault on their digestive systems can come from most any food product. We end up with wheat being very desirable, except it causes celiac disease, especially in the northern European ethnic group. Proso millet avoids the gluten problem but does not produce a raised dough product. The USDA Agricultural Research Service may have the answer. They have produced a plant-based product called hydroxypropyl methylcellulose. This product functions similar to gluten for making a raised dough product. Rice was the flour used for developing this ingredient. Sorghum is the next grain they are looking at developing. If we had an active market order, we could have advantage in getting proso millet developed in a similar fashion.
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