Story courtesy of Perri Polson – Farm Weekly
INTERGRAIN has received the tick of approval from the Japanese market for two new varieties of noodle wheat, which are set to be available to growers for planting next year.
InterGrain chief executive officer Tress Walmsley and senior wheat breeder Daniel Mullan travelled to Japan and Korea last month to share the exciting new varieties with stakeholders from the Japanese noodle wheat market.
Dr Mullan said the trip was a great opportunity to reconnect with milling companies and government contacts – maintaining the relationship – and building on a strong market, which has lasted more than 30 years.
The team discussed the quality of last year’s crop which made its way overseas.
“While we had a bumper crop last season, it has meant that from WA, we’ve had low protein and other quality issues,” Dr Mullan said.
“And so we’ve talked them through what that looks like and explained that it’s largely a seasonal issue.”
The new, higher yielding varieties are set to replace the current noodle wheat varieties.
Dr Mullan said the varieties should “complement” each other in terms of maturity.
One of the varieties provides an earlier sowing opportunity for growers, replacing Zen and Calingiri wheat, while the other suits a later sowing opportunity, replacing Ninja wheat.
“It was important to get the buy-in and help the Japanese market, in particular, understand what these varieties look like from a quality perspective,” he said.
“We provided them with samples of the new varieties, all the major companies tested them with us for a day and they were happy with the quality, so that is a big tick.”
He said gaining the support of the Japanese market was affirming, especially as it could be difficult to achieve the right quality profile.
“When you get a tick from the Japanese market, who are very discerning in terms of their quality preference, it’s quite a big thing,” Dr Mullan said.
“It’s also validation for the system we have in Australia as well.”
The tasting team declared the two new potential varieties from InterGrain as ‘mochi mochi’, the Japanese term to describe the mouthfeel of the noodles.
The perfect Udon noodle should be soft and firm, combined with good elasticity and stickiness.
InterGrain senior wheat breeder Daniel Mullan (right) evaluating the noodles. The perfect udon noodle should be soft and firm, combined with good elasticity and stickiness.
Article Published Wednesday 5th July 2023. For full article see: https://www.farmweekly.com.au/story/8258319/noodle-varieties-get-thumbs-up/
