EVALUATION OF MALTING POTENTIAL IN BARLEY BREEDING PROGRAMS

Different analytical methods were tested for the prediction of malting quality in barley breeding programmes. The repeatability of the methods is also presented. Milling energy of barley and acid extract viscosity correlated very significantly (P < 0.001) with the quality parameters reflecting malt modification, such as milling energy of malt, viscosity and beta-glucan content in wort. These methods are useful for the rejection and preliminary screening of barley crosses. Small scale malting (20 g) and determination of the milling energy of malt can be used in the next stage for the selection of barley lines. For the final evaluation, malting and brewing trials first in laboratory and later in pilot scale and a complete set of analyses are necessary.