Oklahoma State University released a new purple wheat variety in January 2026 that combines disease resistance and high baking quality with anthocyanins, the same food pigments found in pomegranates and blueberries that provide antioxidants benefiting gut and brain health.
OSU-P92 represents a breakthrough in wheat breeding, according to Brett Carver, Regents professor and wheat genetics chair in the OSU Department of Plant and Soil Sciences.
"We were after qualities that are just not normally present in winter wheat," Carver said. "OSU-P92 stood out for having three times or more the anthocyanins of conventional hard red winter wheat and exhibited the most consistently intense purpling of the bran across many environments."
A major push is underway in wheat breeding to increase fiber content. White flour contains around 3% fiber, while whole wheat products contain 11% to 12%. Purple wheat might be one way to shift consumers to accepting whole grains, as many people claim purple wheat bread tastes better than traditional whole wheat products from red wheat.
Connecting farmers to consumers
Brady Sidwell, a wheat producer and business owner in Enid, has established a chain of companies providing food commodity services from selling planting seeds to growers to cold storage and distribution of fresh milled, stone-ground, whole-grain flour to bakeries, restaurants and food companies.
"We specialize in finding specialty, niche markets where we provide high-value, high-quality products, such as purple wheat, that require special handling," Sidwell said. "It's not only delivering the pure, wholesome product that consumers want; it's also giving agriculture a voice by connecting growers directly to consumers."
OSU-P92 is the result of breeding OSU's Smith's Gold hard red winter variety with a Romanian purple wheat called F-Gen14, then crossing with OSU's Big Country hard white variety. This provides adaptability and disease-resistance traits from Smith's Gold, the yield, disease resistance and baking quality of Big Country and the health benefits of purple wheat in one package.
Alva organic wheat farmer Bob Baker has grown OSU-P92 for the last two seasons and currently has 288 acres planted.
"We need to do something to create more demand for bread, so the possibilities of this new wheat with its health benefits are that it could increase consumption," Baker said.
