FIELD CROPS RESEARCH, cilt.84, sa.3, ss.335-340, 2003 (SCI-Expanded, Scopus)
Barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) with high grain beta-glucan content in the soluble dietary fiber fraction may be useful as a specialty crop for human food. In contrast, low beta-glucan content is desirable for brewing or animal feed. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of nitrogen and irrigation on barley grain beta-glucan content. Relationships between barley grain beta-glucan content and some agronomic traits were examined. Generally, high nitrogen levels increased barley grain beta-glucan content in both years. The N-2 treatment gave the best grain beta-glucan contents. A negative effect of irrigation was observed for barley grain beta-glucan content. Increased levels of irrigation tended to decrease grain beta-glucan content in barley. Non-irrigated treatments commonly had the greatest values for grain beta-glucan content in all treatments. Higher positive correlations between beta-glucan and protein content were observed in both years. A negative correlation between beta-glucan content and 1000 grain weight was significant in 1999 while a negative correlation between beta-glucan content and sieve analysis was significant in 2000. It may be concluded that increased nitrogen is desirable for high grain beta-glucan content in barley but not irrigation. (C) 2003 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.