Malt and Grains Session
Ramón Huerta Sr., Instituto Nacional de Investigaciones Forestales, Agrícolas y Pecuarias (INIFAP), Texcoco, Estado de México, México.
Co-author(s): Mauro Zamora, Salomón Solano, and Martha López, Instituto Nacional de Investigaciones Forestales, Agrícolas y Pecuarias (INIFAP), Texcoco, México
ABSTRACT: Malt friability analysis is used to measure the endosperm modification of barley during malting. For its correlation with malting quality factors, the use of this analysis for advanced genotype evaluation in a malting barley breeding program has been discussed and proposed as a useful tool. The aim of this study was to evaluate the usefulness of malt friability analysis to predict malt quality during malting barley breeding and determining the minimum value for Mexican genotype discrimination. The evaluated genotypes from two winter crops (2008/2009 and 2009/2010, Roque, Guanajuato, México) were the advanced breeding lines (>F8) M171, M173, M174, M175, and M10542 and malting barley varieties Adabella, Alina, Armida, Esmeralda, and Esperanza. As expected, malt friability was associated with extract fine grind (r = 0.631), total protein (r = –0.812), diastatic power (r = –0.506), and Kolbach index (r = 0.522), but in the individual assessment of Esmeralda, Esperanza, M171, and M10542 showed no correlation with extract fine grind (EMF) and Kolbach index (KI). Moreover, malt friability was not associated with extract differences in any of the genotypes tested. It was noted that malt friability ranged from 30 to 85% throughout the evaluated material, mainly due to changes in total protein, and Alina, Armida, M175, and M173 showed the greatest variation. It was not possible to set the minimum value of malt friability for the selection considering observed values of EMF. Significant changes in friability (>20%) and EMF (>0.98%) occurred with protein variation higher than 1.40%, and a minor change in protein did not affect endosperm modification parameters. Therefore, malt friability analysis is a useful tool only to predict malt quality in one genotype when protein variation does not exceed set limits according to its modification parameters, but not for genotypes discriminated during malting barley breeding when significant protein changes are common among filial generations.
Ramón Huerta received food engineering and master of science degrees from Universidad Autónoma Chapingo, México State, México. He began employment at Instituto Nacional de Investigaciones Forestales, Agrícolas y Pecuarias (INIFAP) in 2008, as a researcher of malt quality in the national barley breeding program of INIFAP. This program, since 1957, has developed Mexican malting barley varieties for summer and winter crops like Esmeralda and Esperanza.
