Grain and malt quality of selected winter barley genetic resources

The present study evaluated the agronomic and malting quality of 18 selected winter barley varieties. The vari- eties were obtained from the Gene Bank of the Crop Research Institute in Prague-Ruzyne. The varieties were tested under field conditions in three-year trials of ba -sic evaluation. After the harvest, grain was malted and malting quality was determined according to interna- tional methods (EBC and MEBAK). The highest extract content was found in the Atlantick variety (80.6%). Pro- teolytic modification of the varieties Absolut, KWS Ar- iane and the line QK19/08030A_18 was at an optimal level. Values of diastatic power were high in all varieties, which is typical for winter barley varieties, similarly as low levels of cell wall degradation (friability) and high beta-glucan content in the sweet wort. The lowest beta-glu- can content in the sweet wort was recorded in the two-row winter barley variety KWS Ariane (241 mg/l). Of the six-row varieties, the line QK19/08030A_18 had the lowest beta-glucan content in the sweet wort (382 mg/l).