Developing Winter Food Barley for the Pacific Northwest of the US

Abstract

Barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) has been cultivated for human consumption for millennia. However, most North Americans do not regularly consume barley as a foodstuff. In the last decade, there has been renewed interest in barley production for human consumption. A number of quality traits are used to estimate nutritional value and are useful for food processing. These include β‐glucan, grain protein, kernel hardness, solvent retention capacity (SRC), and hull type. The Pacific Northwest (PNW) of the US is a high‐yielding region that has a reputation for setting dietary and nutritional trends. However, there are currently no winter food barleys adapted to this area. To determine the potential suitability of winter growth habits for food barley production in the PNW, we developed and tested 14 advanced lines. The germplasm was developed via marker‐assisted and phenotypic selection and included hulled lines with waxy starch and hull‐less lines with normal starch. Agronomic and food quality traits were measured on samples from three representative environments (dryland, irrigated, and high rainfall) over a 2‐yr period allowing for assessment of performance within and across locations, as well as genotype × environment interaction. Lines with waxy starch had significantly higher levels of β‐glucan, harder kernels, and higher water retention capacity. Hull‐less lines had, on average, slightly lower yields than hulled lines, with an average difference of 105 kg ha−1. Our future food barley variety development will focus exclusively on hull‐less types because of the simplified processing and consumer interest in the nutritional benefits of whole grain.

Genetic characterization of agronomic traits and grain threshability for organic naked barley in the northern United States

“…In a survey that collected responses from 81 organic barley producers around the United States, YLD was identified as the most important trait for breeders to select for by 48% of the respondents and was rated as one of the top three traits by 82% of respondents (Baker et al., 2020). Additionally, because the hull accounts for 10 to 13% of the weight of the grain in covered barley, and breeding for grain yield in naked barley is especially important for it to be competitive with covered barley (Meints et al., 2015). Because of the often‐complex rotation systems that organic farmers use, an early heading barley can result in either a longer grain filling period with higher YLD or earlier harvest that can be valuable for growers who may be planting another crop into the field postharvest.…”

Genotype × environment interaction and stability of β‐glucan content in barley in the Palouse region of eastern Washington

“…Wort β‐glucan can range from 48 to 333 mg L −1 , and there is not a clear correlation between raw grain and wort β‐glucan content (Brouwer, Schwarz, et al., 2016). The relationship between raw grain and wort β‐glucan levels is further complicated by β‐glucan variations due to genotype × environment (G × E) interactions (Brouwer, Schwarz, et al., 2016; Meints et al., 2015). Feed supplemented with β‐glucan may also slow the growth of chicks by increasing the viscosity of their intestinal contents (White et al., 1981).…”

“…High N levels showed increased β‐glucan content, and high irrigation levels showed decreased β‐glucan content (Güler, 2003). A variation of genetic responses and combined stressors that have unique effects indicate that investigating G × E interactions in barley‐producing regions could be helpful for predicting β‐glucan content (Brouwer, Schwarz, et al., 2016; Meints et al., 2015). Previous reports of correlations between β‐glucan and various traits including waxy starch, protein, and grain yield should also be investigated to allow for simultaneous selection of desired traits (Hang, Obert, Gironella, & Burton, 2007; Kim et al., 2011; Meints et al., 2015)…”

Evaluating Barley for the Emerging Craft Malting Industry in Western Washington

“…Pearson's correlations were determined using PROC CORR. Stability of agronomic and quality traits were evaluated using consistency plots of mean ranks vs. standard deviation of rank (Francis and Kannenberg, 1978;Meints et al, 2015).…”