Divergence of barley and oat varieties according to their content of β-glucan

Abstract

Barley and oat have been promoted for years as good sources of dietary fiber, especially ?-glucan. Studies have shown a positive effect of barley and oat ?-glucan on human health and as a result, there has been an increasing demand for ?-glucans in the past decade. Thus, the variability of the ?-glucan content was investigated in the grain of 10 barley and 10 oat varieties. The ?-glucan contents were determined by the ICC Standard Method No 168. The content of ?-glucan in the analyzed barley varieties were within the range 3.52?7.81% and in analyzed oat varieties, the content of ?-glucan were within the range of 3.15?7.28%. Among analyzed barley varieties, Novosadski 314 contained the highest content of ?-glucan (7.81%), while Tomba had the highest content of ?-glucan (7.28%) in the analyzed oat varieties. Based on the results, it could be concluded that there is genetic diversity of oat and barley varieties with respect to their ?-glucan content. This fact enables varieties with a high a nutritional capacity to be selected.