Quality characteristic analysis of leading rice variety ‘Yuehesimiao’ in Guangdong Province

Objective  High quality is one of the core objectives in rice breeding, encompassing multiple aspects such as processing quality, appearance quality, cooking and eating quality, as well as nutritional quality. ‘Yuehesimiao’ is a high-quality main rice variety developed by the Rice Research Institute of Guangdong Academy of Agricultural Sciences. It exhibits strong lodging resistance, high stress tolerance, and excellent grain quality, and has been widely adopted. This study was aimed to systematically analyze the grain quality and associated genotypes of ‘Yuehesimiao’, further explore its superior traits, and provide a theoretical support for rice breeding and variety improvement.

Method Using high-quality varieties ‘Yuexiangzhan’ and ‘Yuzhenxiang’ as controls, the grain quality traits of ‘Yuehesimiao’ (including grain shape, amylose content, gel consistency) were measured, and its starch viscosity profile (including peak viscosity, cool paste viscosity and setback viscosity, etc.) were characterized. Simultaneously, PCR amplification and genotyping were performed for quality-related genes. Meanwhile, the application potential of ‘Yuehesimiao’ in quality breeding was explored.

Result The grain shape of ‘Yuehesimiao’ was intermediate between those of the two control varieties, with its grain morphology primarily governed by gs3 and gw7 genes. The processing quality traits of ‘Yuehesimiao’ were excellent, featuring low amylose content and high gel consistency. Its superior cooking and eating quality was associated with Wx^b gene. Additionally, ‘Yuehesimiao’ was demonstrated with high protein and fatty acid contents, with these characteristics being particularly pronounced under early-season cultivation conditions. The quality characteristics of hybrid and conventional rice varieties developed using ‘Yuehesimiao’ as a restorer line or a founder parent were excellent.

Conclusion ‘Yuehesimiao’ is a medium-to-long grain rice variety with excellent appearance quality and superior processing quality. These findings provide a theoretical basis for developing new rice varieties featuring synergistic improvement of yield, stress resistance, and grain quality.