| To investigate the mechanisms underlying the formation of quality traits in different wheat types, this study utilized nine wheat varieties recently approved for cultivation in the Huang-Huai-Hai wheat-growing region. These included a strong-gluten wheat cultivar Weilong 169, a purple wheat cultivar Jimai 8, a medium-gluten wheat cultivar Xinong 100, along with the national standard control variety Zhoumai 36. Grain nutritional quality, processing quality, high-molecular-weight glutenin subunit(HMW-GS) composition, and quality-related gene differences were analyzed. The results showed that Weilong 169 exhibited the highest gliadin-to-glutenin ratio(1.84), while Xinong 112 had the highest glutenin macropolymer(GMP) content(11.51%). Among the varieties, Xinong 136 displayed the highest total starch content(80.69%); Xinong 106 had the highest amylose content(39.55%), and Xinong 100 had the highest amylopectin content(43.18%). All medium-gluten wheat varieties(except Jimai 8) exhibited B-type starch content above 87.64%. Protein percentage area, junction count, and junction density in Xinong 112 were significantly higher than those in Weilong 169(P<0.05). Jimai 8 showed the highest total sulfhydryl and disulfide bond contents(20.01 μmol·g-1 and 7.24 μmol·g-1, respectively). Furthermore, Xinong 109 and Xinong 136 had the lowest loss tangent values. For HMW-GS, high-quality subunits were detected at the Glu-A1, Glu-B1 and Glu-D1 loci in all varieties except Xinong 100, Xinong 109 and Xinong 112. The number of superior allelic variations among the tested varieties ranged from six to ten. In conclusion, significant differences in quality traits were observed among the wheat varieties. Medium-gluten wheat varieties, such as Xinong 100, demonstrated superior performance across various nutritional and processing quality indicators. Strong-gluten wheat(Weilong 169) and purple wheat(Jimai 8) possessed high-quality subunit combinations(Ax1, Bx7+By8, Dx5+Dy10) and the largest number of superior allelic variations, reflecting rich genetic diversity in quality-related traits. |