Effects of cultivar, nitrogen fertilization rate and environment on yield and grain quality of barley

Abstract

Ten barley cultivars, including covered and naked types, varying in their content of total starch, amylose, protein and β‐glucan, were grown in different years, at various locations and nitrogen fertilization rates. The barley cultivars showed a large variation in yield (3250–6690 kg ha−1), thousand kernel weight (40–50 g), bulk weight (660–815 g litre−1), starch (51–67% of DM), protein (8–15% of DM), β‐glucan (3·5–5·9% of DM) and ash (1·9–2·5% of DM). The naked cultivar SW 8775 had the highest starch content and the high amylopectin cultivar (SW 7142‐92, waxy) had the lowest. The waxy starch barleys had the highest protein content, while the normal starch barleys (Golf and Lina) had the lowest protein content at each N‐rate. Higher content of β‐glucan was found in the waxy cultivars (5·0–5·9% of DM) and high amylose cultivars (5·6–5·9% of DM) than in the other barley cultivars (3·5–4·8% of DM). The results were evaluated by analysis of variance (ANOVA) and principal component analysis (PCA), and both confirmed that nitrogen fertilization rate was of great importance for the protein content. PCA revealed that protein and β‐glucan were negatively correlated with starch and yield. The ANOVA showed that the cultivar factor was significant for all variables, but especially for the β‐glucan content, which responded differently to the nitrogen fertilization rate during the 2 years. In this study, environmental effects were generally of less importance than the barley cultivars for the different variables. © 1998 Society of Chemical Industry.

The Effects of Barley-Derived Soluble Fiber on Serum Lipids

“…2,3 Barley and oats have a similar concentration of soluble fi bers called β-glucan (3.5%-5.9% of the dry matter), whereas wheat and rice do not posses this constituent type of fi ber. 4 Unlike wheat and rice, 5-10 a diet high in β-glucan has been shown to slow gastric emptying, digestion, and absorption. 11 These effects are associated with increased excretion of bile acids and neutral sterols, increased catabolism of cholesterol, and reduced absorption of cholesterol and fat.…”

“…35 Barley and oats have similar concentrations of β-glucans (3.5%-5.9% of the dry matter), the proposed active ingredient in both soluble fi bers, so a similar magnitude of total cholesterol or LDL cholesterol reductions is plausible. 4 In the meta-analysis of oats by Brown and colleagues, however, changes of -0.08 to -0.4 mg/dL were noted for HDL cholesterol, and changes of 1.06 to 5.3 mg/dL were noted for triglycerides, which is in contrast to our meta-analysis, in which with barleyderived β-glucan we saw a nonsignifi cant increase of 1 mg/dL for HDL cholesterol and a signifi cant reduction of 12 mg/dL in triglycerides compared with a control group. 35 In addition, Brown and colleagues found a dose-response relationship when evaluating studies of soluble fi bers in the practical dose range (<10 g/d).…”

Reduced fertiliser use and changes in cereal grain weight, test weight and protein content in Finland in 1990-2005

“…The plus sign in the case of winter cereals indicates that the first N application is in autumn and the second in spring. Recommendations for P are for satisfactory soil P levels (Viljavuuspalvelu 1990(Viljavuuspalvelu , 1995(Viljavuuspalvelu and 2000 (Pietola et al 1999, Seppälä andKontturi 1987), remained unaffected (Leitch and Hayes 1989, Esala 1991, Oscarsson et al 1998, Browne et al 2006 or increased (Chalmers et al 1998, May et al 2004, Mohr et al 2007 following reduced N fertiliser application rate. Test weight reflects packing properties of individual grains, and is influenced by grain size, moisture, ill-defined aspects of grain shape, texture of the grain surface, pre-harvest weathering and content of non-grain material (Bayles 1977).…”

“…However, it is interesting that this association between increased N application rates and test weight contrasts with results of most field experiments. In the cited field experiment studies where test weight decreased due to the increased N application, N application rates were 15 and 80 kg ha -1 (May et al 2004), 0, 40, 80 and 120 kg ha -1 (Mohr et al 2007) or 45, 90 and 135 kg ha -1 (Oscarsson et al 1998). Rates of N application in our study had standard deviations of 23-44 kg ha -1 (Table 7), but in the year by rural centre combinations, N application rates most probably differed much less than In our study, N had a slightly positive effect on 1000 grain weight of spring barley and spring wheat.…”

Changes in serum lipids and postprandial glucose and insulin concentrations after consumption of beverages with β-glucans from oats or barley: a randomised dose-controlled trial

“…Barley has a similar concentration of b-glucans as oats (3.5-5.9% of the dry matter; Oscarsson et al, 1998), yet there are only few published trials on the cholesterol-lowering effect of barley in humans. McIntosh et al (1991) observed a significant fall in total-and LDL-cholesterol in hypercholesterolaemic men by incorporating 170 g of barley bran and flakes into a normal diet.…”