VIEW ARTICLE    DOI: 10.1094/ASBCJ-47-0082

Malting Quality and Agronomic Characteristics of Selected Proanthocyanidin-free Barleys. D. M. Wesenberg, Berne L. Jones, G. S. Robbins, and J. Cochran, USDA-ARS, P.O. Box AA, Aberdeen, ID 83210. J. Am. Soc. Brew. Chem. 47:0082, 1989.

This paper reports on the malting quality and agronomic performance of 46 proanthocyanidin-free barley lines selected from a cross of ANT 517 and the cultivar Harrington. The ANT 517 parent was the source of the proanthocyanidin-free character. Seed of 45 of 46 lines evaluated in 1986 with the vanillin-HC1 test were 94-100% proanthocyanidin-free. In replicated trials grown under irrigation at Aberdeen, ID, in 1986 and 1987, 42 of 46 proanthocyanidin-free lines averaged higher in yield than the ANT 517 parent, and every line exceeded the ANT 517 parent in kernel plumpness. The highest yielding proanthocyanidin-free line, 85Y126, averaged 5,967 kg/ha during 1986-1987, or 98% of the yield for the cultivar Klages. One of the best malting lines, 85Y278, was superior to Klages in kernel plumpness, wort nitrogen/malt nitrogen ratio, diastatic power, and α-amylase, but its malt extract was one percentage point lower than that of Klages. It yielded only 76% as much as Klages, but 4% more than ANT 517. Line 85Y72, with malting quality similar to 85Y278, yielded 84% of Klages and 115% of ANT 517 during 1986-1987. Many of the proanthocyanidin-free lines were equal or superior to Klages in most malting quality characteristics, but all were inferior to Klages in their malt extract percentages, and all lines likewise contained excessive protein. Nearly all lines were superior to the anthocyanidin-free cultivar Galant in malting quality. This research indicated no genetic linkage that might prevent the development of a high-yielding, proanthocyanidin-free barley with acceptable malting quality.

Keywords: Barley breeding, Barley mutants, Hordeum vulgare