The role of bread, pasta and related products produced from milled wheat seeds is important to the human diet, so monitoring changes of starch content in developing grain is essential. Immature wheat grains are also used as a functional food, particularly as a source of water-soluble carbohydrates. The amount and variation in content of different carbohydrates changes considerably during maturation and these changes were non-destructively monitored in developing grain using near infrared (NIR) spectroscopy. Characteristic changes in three carbohydrate absorption bands [1585–1595 nm (Carbohydrate I), 2270–2280 nm (Carbohydrate II) and 2325–2335 nm (Carbohydrate III)] were identified and it was concluded that the different dynamics of carbohydrates (starch accumulation as well as synthesis/decomposition of water-soluble carbohydrates) could be followed sensitively by monitoring these three different regions of NIR spectra. Carbohydrate I represents the effect of starch accumulation during maturation based on the vibrations of intermolecular hydrogen bonded O–H groups in polysaccharides. Carbohydrate II is the manifestation of O–H stretching and C–C stretching vibrations existing unengaged in water-soluble carbohydrates while Carbohydrate III describes the changes in C–H stretching and deformation band of poly- and mono-oligosaccharides. NIR spectroscopic techniques are shown to be effective in monitoring plant physiological processes and the spectra have hidden information for predicting the stage of growth in wheat seed.

Keywords: seed development, maturation, carbohydrates, physiological process, near infrared spectroscopy