b'PARTNER CONTENTHOW SGS HELPS THAT LOAF OF BREAD GET TO YOUR TABLEFrom start to finish, SGS Canada helps supply millers and bakers with quality wheat.Marc ZienkiewiczIN 2016,SGS Canada and Grain Farmers of Ontario collab-orated to build a laboratory in Guelph to analyze end use quality in wheat. It was the first private commercial grains analytical testing facility for cereal crops in the country.Bread making is a key market for Canadas cereal grow-ers and the laboratory helps better position Canadian farm-ers and cereal crops in domestic and international markets.Wheat being one of Canadas biggest exports, the work done at the lab ensures new wheat lines have what it takes to meet the kind of quality characteristics needed for baking. Tests are conducted to check for protein levels and gluten strength, and bread is actually baked at the facility to show how certain kinds of wheat behave in real-world conditions.Bread making is a key market for Canadas cereal growers.A lot goes into designing wheat to be used for baking. Dough strength is a big deal, as is the resistance tomechanical purity, Gelech notes.deformation when the dough is made, says Holly Gelech,Regulated seed tests are still hugely important and the business development manager, SGS Canada. bread and butter of what we do, but the world of seed Upon a new wheat line entering the lab, different toolsquality is so much bigger than that, Gelech notes.are used to evaluate the baking performance and how theEnd use quality is becoming more important than ever dough will be formed. Dough is complicated. It has to haveas the seed industry focuses on value-added opportuni-the right elasticity and has to be light enough to rise andties. SGS enjoys a worldwide network of seed testing produce a moist, fluffy piece of bread. Those tools include: infrastructure that is helping its clients ensure theyre ableFarinograph: Measures the absorption and doughto meet that end use quality at all stages of the process, strength properties of a flour and water mixture as itsfrom breeding to the farming stage.combined and developed into dough through mixing; Were the leading company in evaluating grainAlveograph: Measures the doughs resistance toexports, but when it comes to the actual seed end of the extension, similar to the conditions in fermentation andbusiness right down to the farmer level, SGS was not well baking (oven rise); known in Canada prior to 2017. That has all changed,Extensograph: Measures the elasticity and extensibil- she says.ity of a dough; In 2019, SGS Canada successfully met the InternationalAmylograph: Measures the alpha-amylase activitySeed Testing Association (ISTA) lab accreditation require-and viscosity (starch gelatinization) of a flour sample. ments to deliver sampling and testing for a large variety All these tests we perform are critical for doughof commercially relevant seeds and coated seeds. ISTAs elasticity, baking strength, dough mixing parameters,vision is to provide uniformity in seed quality evaluation loaf volume and consistency/resistance to deformation,globally.Gelech says. Breeders arent going to spend time andAs the seed industry becomes modernized, were money bringing a wheat line to the market if it doesntalways looking at areas where we can expand our service make a good loaf of bread or make good cookies, andreach, but the core of our business continues to be rou-our work helps them to know if a certain line of wheat istine seed testing, germination, purity, disease and vigour. worth investing more into and bringing to market. That said, we take every opportunity to branch off into SGS Canada is helping take seed testing to a newadditional areas that are very important to our large cus-level. No longer is seed testing just about germination andtomers, Gelech adds. For info visit biovision.ca. JANUARY 2021 GERMINATION.CA 37'