EFFECT OF THE ANT-13 LOCUS (PROANTHOCYANIDIN-FREE) ON THE MALTING QUALITY AND AGRONOMIC PERFORMANCE OF BARLEY

Proanthocyanidin (ant)-free barley may be used to brew beer with excel lent haze stability, but economically competitive ant-free malting cul tivars adapted to the western United States have not been developed. T wo experimental lines derived from a cross of ANT-13 517 and the culti var Harrington that were initially selected as ant-free were observed to be segregating for the ant-free character in advanced generations. Reselections (sublines) from these lines were studied to determine the effect of the ant-free character on agronomic performance and malting quality. Ant-free and ant-containing (normal) sublines from the lines 85Y22 and 85Y27 were evaluated in replicated field trials at two loca tions in two years. The agronomic performance and malting quality of t he normal sublines was competitive with Harrington, whereas the ant-fr ee sublines were markedly poorer. However, the ant-free sublines were improved relative to the ANT-13 517 parent. These results indicated th at the ant-free character derived from ANT-13 517 is negatively associ ated with significant determinants of commercial acceptability. Additi onal hybridization to malting cultivars may break these relationships, and allow the development of commercially acceptable ant-free malting cultivars adapted to the western United States.