QUALITY ASSESSMENT OF SPRING BARLEY VARIETIES INTENDED FOR MALTING PROCESS

Abstract

The suitability of a barley grain for malt production depends upon a large number of quality parameters that are crucial for the identification of high-quality malt varieties. The grain and malt technological quality parameters of five samples of four spring malting barley varieties were studied in order to estimate their malting potential. Selected barley varieties proved to be of satisfactory malting quality in terms of analyzed technological parameters. First-class grain percentage in the analyzed samples ranged from 84.9 to 94.6 %. Hectoliter weight reached values from 634.2 to 737.1 g.dm^-3. Barley samples also contained a relatively high starch content of 63 to 68 %. Nitrogenous substances ranged from 9.9 to 11.3 % and all tested varieties met the requirement for nitrogen content. These samples were micro-malted and resulting malt was analyzed. All tested malt samples achieved high and satisfactory extract content of 82.4 - 84.3 %. Statistically significant (p<0.05) the highest extract content was confirmed in variety LG Tosca (84.3 %) which was found to be relatively the best technological quality also for its kernel size and optimal starch and protein content. The average value of friability was 98 %. The intensity of proteolytic modification among varieties was satisfactory (Kolbach index 39.18 - 47.17 %). The viscosity of the wort reached values from 1.41 to 1.47 mPa.s^-1, varieties provided clear wort in all cases. Based on the results of grain and malt quality parameters it can be concluded that all tested spring barley varieties are suitable for malting process.