Variation of Grain and Malt Qualities in Barley as Affected by Cultivars and Environments

Inferior and unstable quality of malt barley in China has limited its wide use in malting and brewing industries. In this research, eight two-rowed barley cultivars were planted at 7 locations with different ecological conditions in southern China, to investigate the cultivar and environmental effect on grain and malt qualities. The results showed that grain protein content differed dramatically among locations, but there were no significant differences among cultivars. For four malt qualities including diastatic power, wort viscosity, Kolbach index and malt extract, significant differences were found among cultivars and locations, except for diastatic power among cultivars. Coefficients of variance(CV)caused by location were greater than those caused by cultivar for each quality parameter, especially for diastatic power and Kolbach index, indicating the predominant influence of environment on malt quality. The analysis showed that grain protein content was positively related to diastatic power and wort viscosity, and negatively to malt extract. Kolbach index was positively related to malt extract, and negatively to diastatic power and wort viscosity. Diastatic power showed positive and negative correlation with wort viscosity and malt extract, respectively.

Important Quality Attributes of Malt Barley(Hordeum vulgare L.):Effect of Genetics,Environments and Agronomic Factors

Barley has been in use as food and fodder for thousands of years. and also used currently as the most important raw material in malting and brewing. The quality of malt barley is not much satisfied with the requirement by malting and brewing industry worldwide, although the great effort has been devoted to its improvement through breeding and agronomy. The quality of malt barley is involved in many physical and chemical traits, including hydrolytic enzymes. Of them, kernel protein content, beta-amylase activity, beta-glucan content and kernel plumpness have dramatic influence on malting or brewing quality. The expression of these quality parameters varies greatly in genotypes and is easily changed by diverse environments and agronomic practices. This paper reviewed the important role of various parameters influencing the quality of malt barley and the effect of different factors on them.