Evolution of a quality testing program for improving malting barley in Canada

Abstract

2014. Evolution of a quality testing program for improving malting barley in Canada. Can. J. Plant Sci. 94: 535Á544. The quality of Canadian malting barley has continually improved since malt barley was exported in the late 1800s. Improvements were linked to a dynamic evaluation system that evolved with a better understanding of malting biochemistry and as suitable methods were developed. Methods became more accurate and more specific in their ability to define quality. They progressed from sensory evaluation, to surmising malt quality from barley protein levels, to the first micro-maltings followed by automated laboratory-scale maltings. Malt quality analysis started simply with malt extract and diastatic power followed by wort protein. As the necessity for cell wall breakdown became better understood, analyses like wort viscosity, fine/coarse grind extract differences and wort b-glucan were adopted. A continuum of cultivars were released in Canada, based on this evaluation system, starting with the six-rowed releases OAC 21, then Montcalm and Bonanza, followed by the two-rowed releases Betzes, Klages, Harrington and AC Metcalfe. Release of future cultivars will depend on an evolving evaluation system that could include; barley homogeneity, specific starch-degrading enzymes, individual amino acids and specific traits such as low lipoxygenase and low phytic acid barley. The result will be development and release of cultivars with better defined quality that can fill specialized niches in the malting and brewing industries of the future.

A survey of total β-glucan content in Croatian barley varieties

“…Brewing technology itself contributes also to the final β-glucan content in wort. Edney et al (2012Edney et al ( , 2014 reported wort β-glucan content ranging from 60 to 140 mg/L for Canadian barley varieties. Even though there are no recommendations for brewers regarding total β-glucan content in malt, for wort it is recommended it should not exceed 200 mg/L (Davis 2006).…”

Relationships Between Fructans Content and Barley Malt Quality

“…Therefore, the measurement and development of new technologies/methods that measure new aspects of quality not considered or understood in the past will allow a better understanding of malt quality to better facilitate product development and improve efficiencies in the brewing process as well as to develop or improve barley varieties (Edney et al 2014).…”

Study of the role of sugar fatty esters in explaining differences in the malt composition of barley analysed using vibrational spectroscopy and chemometrics

“…[13][14][15][16][17][18] However, the current state of knowledge of their exact biochemical, chemical and physiological roles and their effects on the biophysical properties of grains is still incomplete. [20][21][22][23][24] Biochemical components of grain other than starch such as proteins, non-structural, structural polysaccharides and lipids inuence or modulate the quality of the grain and consequently its malting properties. [13][14][15][16][17][18] In most cereals, most of the sucrose might be converted into starch, where the conversion into lipids accounts for less than 5% of the total carbon pool in the plant.…”

“…[13][14][15][16][17][18] Sucrose serves as one of the main carbon sources for the synthesis of membrane lipids, phospholipids, non-storage proteins and enzymes. 20,24 New technologies or methods that measure new aspects of malt quality not considered or understood in the past will allow a better understanding of the main drivers of composition, to better facilitate product development and to improve efficiencies in the brewing process as well as to develop or improve barley varieties. 16 In foods, the presence of sugar fatty esters (e.g., sucrose esters, glycolipids) can also determine several rheological properties and in particular they have been used as emulsiers in ice cream and bread.…”

“…[13][14][15][16][17][18] In most cereals, most of the sucrose might be converted into starch, where the conversion into lipids accounts for less than 5% of the total carbon pool in the plant. [20][21][22][23][24] Malt extract is a measure of the total water soluble materials derived from the barley malt available for brewing. 19 Malt quality is an economically important characteristic of barley and research in barley breeding, biochemistry and genetics has led to improvements in the understanding of some of the characteristics that determine the properties of the barley grain and corresponding malt.…”