| | Pearling quality is important for potential food products of barley and for three Japanese food products: miso, rice extender and shochu. Barley must be uniform in size, a good shape and of uniform hardness. The desired kernel shape varies, depending on the end product. The rice extender market requires a more elliptical kernel while the shochu market a round kernel. In order to select barley types that are suitable for a pearling process we looked at NIRS as a screening method for pearled and seed color and pearling score. Color was measured on the whole seed and on the pearled samples by using a MinoltaŽ color meter. Pearling scores were visual ratings of the pearled grain on a 1-9 scale with 1 being the most desirable and 9 the poorest. The ratings were based on seven characteristics: color brightness, crease depth, crease width, cracked or broken kernels, kernel shape, kernel size and sample uniformity. These ratings were done on barley samples from 5 locations over a 4-year period and two of the authors independently scored the samples. Significant R2 values for both color (r2=.90) and pearling score (r2=.91) were found on a NIRS calibration to whole grain samples and pearled samples. NIRS is a rapid and repeatable selection tool to screen for pearling quality.
Helm, J. H., L. Oatway, P.E. Juskiw, and J.M. Nyachiro
Alberta Agriculture, Food & Rural Development, Field Crop Development Centre, Lacombe, AB
Presented at the 3rd Canadian Barley Symposium, June 19-20, 2003 |
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