China is the world's largest producer and consumer of wheat. Its wheat quality evaluation framework therefore has implications beyond the national context. Wheat quality assessment in China relies on standardized laboratory indicators to support variety registration and utilization; however, the current system places strong emphasis on selected rheological parameters, while some very important processing-relevant traits receive limited consideration. In this study, 18 representative Chinese and imported wheat varieties were evaluated across two locations over two crop seasons for flour milling yield, dough rheological properties, and bread making quality. Flour milling yield (FMY) showed pronounced genotypic and environmental variation (66.6–78.4%), with Zhongmai 578 and Zhongmai 255 consistently exhibiting high FMY across all environments. Dough stability varied widely (0.9–25.8 min) and was strongly influenced by environment, whereas dough extensibility was comparatively stable. Conditional analyses revealed that extensibility modulated the relationship between dough stability and loaf volume, with high extensibility samples (>190 mm) maintaining elevated loaf volume even at moderate dough stability (4-8 min), thereby reducing dependence on strengthoriented parameters. Overall, these results not only characterize key sources of processing-quality variation,but also suggest that incorporating flour milling yield and extensibility-related parameters could enhance the completeness and robustness of wheat quality evaluation within the Chinese registration framework.
Journal of Cereal Science.Volume 129,June 2026, 104451.IF=4.3.
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcs.2026.104451.