KERNEL COLOR VARIES WITH CULTIVARS AND ENVIRONMENTS IN BARLEY

Kernel colour is an important marketing trait for both malting and fee d barleys. Therefore a study was initiated to investigate the kernel c olour of 75 Canadian barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) cultivars at three lo cations (Charlottetown, Ottawa and Bentley) across Canada in 1991 and 1992. Kernel colour was measured by an Instrumar Colormet Spectrocolor imeter. Kernel colour was found to be brighter at the two locations in eastern Canada (Charlottetown and Ottawa) than at the location in wes tern Canada (Bentley). Two-row cultivars on average were more discolou red than six-row cultivars; eastern two-row were more discoloured than western two-row. Covered barleys were less discoloured than hulless b arleys in five of the six environments, but covered barleys at Bentley in 1992 were more discoloured than hulless barleys. Kernel discoloura tion appeared to be associated with susceptibility to net blotch for s ix-row cultivars. More studies are needed on kernel discolouration of barley.