Effects of rice weevil in different life states on the protein physicochemical and structural properties of wheat

In the process of wheat storage, rice weevil is a kind of extremely harmful moth-eaten pest, which belongs to the hidden pest that eats inside the grain, and in the growth and development process of rice weevil ( egg stage, larva stage, pupa stage, adult stage), there are different degrees of damage to wheat until the adult stage is drilled out. In severe cases, wheat grains can be eaten into empty shells, and the excrement is left inside the grains, which seriously damages the protein quality of wheat and affects the quality of flour. In order to explore the effects of rice weevil infection on wheat protein quality at different stages. In this paper, the crude protein, uric acid, protein components, wet gluten, gluten water absorption, lactic acid solvent retention capacity (SRC), sucrose SRC, sulfhydryl (-SH), disulfide bond (-S-S-), protein secondary structure, gluten protein microstructure of the wheat infected by rice weevil and the color and texture characteristics of the corresponding whole wheat noodles were measured and analyzed. The results showed that the growth and development of rice weevil in wheat and the damage of wheat would cause a series of changes in wheat protein, which was manifested in the deterioration of physical and chemical properties and morphological structure. With the growth and development of rice weevil inside the wheat kernels, the content of crude protein in wheat grains increased significantly, the content of wet gluten, gluten water absorption, lactic acid solvent retention SRC, sucrose SRC, -SH and-SS-decreased, The proportion of wheat protein components and secondary structures, which are very important for wheat, also changed significantly (P<0.05), and the edible quality and nutritional value of wheat also decreased. The microstructure of gluten protein showed that with the growth and development of rice weevil in wheat grains, the surface roughness of gluten increased, and the fracture surface and burr increased. After reaching the adult stage, some gluten structures had been seriously broken and could not be identified. After making whole wheat noodles, the color of noodles deepened, L* value and cooking loss rate increased, a* value, b* value, hardness, adhesion, elasticity, cohesiveness, chewiness and resilience decreased. The experimental results further elucidated the deterioration mechanism of wheat damaged by rice weevil, and provided a theoretical basis for the quality improvement of wheat during storage and the insect infected wheat.