Cultivar and Environmental Variation of P-glucan Content in Chinese Barleys

β-glucan is a polysaccharide compound closely related to the quality of barley used as malting, feed and food. Low β-glucan content is expected for brewing and feed barley, while high β-glucan content is desirable for food barley. The β-glucan content of barley genotypes collected from various areas of China as well as from Canada and Australia were assayed. Meanwhile a multi-locations trial was conducted to determine β-glucan content of 10 barley cultivars in 8 locations for two successive planting years. The results showed that barley genotypes from Tibet and Xinjiang had higher p-glucan content and the genotypes with higher than 8% of P-glucan content were detected in Tibet barleys, being valuable for use in the development of healthy food. Barley cultivars being planted now in winter-sowing areas of China had basically the same β-glucan content as those from Canada and Australia. Barley seeds produced in Hangzhou had lower β-glucan content than seeds from the original areas. There was a highl