EFFECTS OF CULTIVAR AND ENVIRONMENT ON BETA-GLUCAN CONTENT AND MALTING QUALITY OF TURKISH BARLEYS

Eight barley cultivars grown under the same agronomic conditions and s amples of Tokak cultivar grown at six different sites of Turkey were u sed in this study. There were significant differences among the barley cultivars and growing locations in terms of beta-glucan content (p<0. 05). Among malt quality criteria tested for the 8 barley cultivars; fr iability, viscosity, Kolbach index and extract difference showed signi ficant correlations (p<0.05) with the total beta-glucan content. Simil ar correlations were also observed between the malt quality criteria ( Kolbach index and extract difference) and beta-glucan contents for the Tokak samples grown at different sites.