Barley Production, Barley Nutrient Content, and Quality of Malting Barley in Western Canada 2020

Nutritional components in barley grain

Barley is a versatile crop that can be used for animal feed, human food, the production of malt and beer, and forage. Selective breeding practices in recent decades have resulted in the development of barley genotypes with distinctive traits targeted for specific end uses. Examples of such traits include the ability to produce ample amounts of hydrolytic enzymes needed for malting or a high content of soluble fibre in grain to combat heart disease. In Canada, barley varieties are classified into three major types based on their intended end use: food, general purpose, and malting barley. Even though nutrient levels in barley are controlled by genotype, environmental growing conditions, and the interactions between these two factors, barley is generally a wholesome and nutritious cereal grain. Many health benefits are derived from its high levels of soluble β-glucans, total dietary fibre, tocols, vitamin B, and phenolic compounds. While specialty food barley can deliver exceptionally high levels of β-glucan and starch with altered characteristics (waxy or high amylose), any type of barley can be made into convenient food ingredients such as pearled grain, steel-cut, flakes and flour. Barley can also be blended into various food products to add texture, flavor, and nutritional value to the product. As a food grain, however, barley is still awaiting greater utilization by the food industry and better recognition and acceptance by consumers.

In 2020, we began an analysis of the nutritional components in barley in order to obtain a better understanding of the nutrient levels in various genotypes and barley classes. Covered barley genotypes were dehulled to determine the level of nutrients in the edible portion of the grain. Since the hull is firmly attached to the caryopsis it is usually difficult to remove and some parts of the outer layer, such as the pericarp or testa, may be unintentionally lost during the dehulling process. In hulless barley genotypes, the dry hulls are easily detached from the rest of the kernel during combining at harvest. Hulless barley may contain remnants of adhering hulls, however, and these also need to be removed mechanically before the grain is suitable for consumption. For comparison purposes we are reporting the level of nutrients before and after dehulling. The values for malting varieties represent averages for samples grown in two different locations in 2020. Other varieties were grown in a single location. Specialty food barley includes hulless, high β-glucan varieties with waxy (CDC Fibar, CDC Marlina, CDC Valdres) or high amylose starch (CDC Hilose).

Table 3.1 Content of essential minerals in selected genotypes of specialty food (hulless) barley (CDC Hilose and CDC Valdres), in dehulled food/general purpose barley (Canmore and AB Wrangler), and in dehulled malting barley (CDC Copeland and AAC Synergy).