The taste of diversity: Sensory characteristics in diverse wheat aimed for food production under climate change

To ensure production sustainability and food security under climate change, it is essential to improve the resilience and nutritional quality of staple crops by transferring suitable traits from diverse sources, while maintaining sensory attributes preferred by consumers to support acceptance and adoption. Therefore, the present study evaluated sensory characteristics using 13 traits, in a diverse wheat genotype (n = 49) belonging to 17 genetic groups, by Quantitative Descriptive Analysis, a trained panel, and using wholegrain porridge as a model. The results revealed significant genotypic differences (p < 0.001) for all 13 sensory traits. Rye-introgressed lines (e.g., 1RS.1BL+2BS.2RL, 2R/2B, 1R+6R) and old cultivars exhibited higher intensity for odour descriptors (graham flour, rye flour, corn, cooked rice), firmer texture, and distinct grey/beige colour. Ancient wheat species, such as einkorn, spelt, and Triticum timopheevi showed a milder aroma and flavour profile and higher sweetness than the rest of the evaluated wheat groups. T. carthlicum and landraces were characterised by bitterness, umami, and a gritty mouthfeel. Strong positive correlations were observed among odour traits (r = 0.68–0.91), while texture grittiness correlated with bitterness (r = 0.67). Sweetness showed moderate to strong negative correlations with odour and flavour traits (r = -0.42 to -0.75). Multivariate analysis explained 63.3% of the total variance, and clustering grouped the genotypes into three distinct sensory intensity classes. These findings highlight that sensory attributes may pose opportunities and challenges when genes for resilience and nutrition are transferred from diverse wheat genotypes to adapted wheat and novel food products are developed from these materials.