Assessment of malting quality of lines from a barley breeding programme

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Abstract
Early to middle generation lines of barley (Hordeum distichum L.) from trials grown over 2 years were assessed for malting quality by micro-malting grain samples in the laboratory using a controlledenvironment cabinet. Ground malts were extracted with water at 67°C to give a soluble extract or wort and from this wort, malt fine and coarse extract, wortreducing sugars and total carbohydrates, and wort filtration rates were measured. Malt coarse extract was significantly correlated with malt fine extract (r = 0.881***), wort reducing sugars (r = 0.833***), and wort total carbohydrates (r = 0.818***). Early generation lines were ranked for malting quality directly by malt coarse extract as the differences between malts were most enhanced when measuring this character. Nitrogen and soluble beta-glucan content were measured in grain before malting but were not used to predict malting quality as the inverse relationships between these characters and malt extract were inconsistent and barely significant. However, the grain characters indicated how the malting quality of individual lines was influenced by environmental conditions.