The relationships between wheat starch content and wheat malt qualities were studied in the present work. Six wheat varieties that were typical in starch, protein content and amylopectin/ amylose ratio were selected from 12 wheat varieties and germinated under the same conditions. The decreased degree of total starch content after malting had a positive correlation (r = 0.8020, P < 0.1) with the amylopectin/amylose ratio of the raw wheat. Extracts of wheat malts were influenced by starch content and the amylopectin/amylose ratio of the raw wheat. When the amylopectin/amylose ratio was in the range 3.65:1~3.93:1, extracts of the malts had significant positive correlation (r = 0.967, P = 0.002) with the starch content of the raw wheat. In this investigation a suitable amylopectin/amylose ratio (3.65:1 to 3.93:1), a high starch content and a low protein content were the characteristics of a wheat variety suitable for malting.

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