Abstract
High levels of carotenoids and gluten are the most important traits for seed quality and colour of semolina produced from durum wheat (Triticum durum Desf.). Rapid methods based on colourimetry with three coordinates L*a*b* and SDS sedimentation produce indirect measurements of carotenoids and gluten, respectively. In contrast, traditional and accurate biochemical methods with n-butanol extraction of carotenoids and a Glutomatic-2200 instrument system for gluten are more complicated approaches requiring specific equipment and much more time. The aim of this study was to test and compare rapid and traditional methods for carotenoid and gluten quality in 8 durum wheat cultivars used as parents and 10 F3-F4 hybrids, which were very diverse in their composition. Genotyping of the TdPsy-B1 and TdGlu-B1 genes using SNP-based ASQ markers was consistent with carotenoid content and gluten quality in the parental lines and hybrids. Strong associations were found in the comparison between rapid measurements and traditional methods for carotenoid and gluten quality. Therefore, colourimetric and SDS sedimentation methods can be used for approximate assessment of carotenoid and gluten quality in durum wheat, but their practical value lies primarily in the ability to rapidly rank and select genotypes for subsequent detailed analysis.