Publication no. C-1997-0818-05R |  VIEW ARTICLE

Comparisons of beta-Glucan Content of Barley and Oat.

C. J. Lee (1), R. D. Horsley (2,3), F. A. Manthey (2), and P. B. Schwarz (4). (1) RR1 Box 170, Velva, ND 58790. (2) Dept. of Plant Sciences, North Dakota State University, Fargo, ND 58105. (3) Corresponding author. E-mail address: <horsley@badlands.nodak.edu> (4) Dept. of Cereal Science, North Dakota State University, Fargo, ND 58105. Cereal Chem. 74(5):571-575. Accepted April 30, 1997. Copyright 1997 by the American Association of Cereal Chemists, Inc.

The cholesterol-lowering effect of cereal grains has been associated with the soluble fiber component of dietary fiber. beta-Glucan is the major soluble fiber component of barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) and oat (Avena sativa L.). Much research has been conducted to determine the beta-glucan content of barley and oat genotypes from many different countries. However, genotypes of both crops always were grown in separate experiments, making direct comparisons between the two crops difficult. This study compares in the same experiment the beta-glucan content of nine barley and 10 oat genotypes grown at two locations in each of two years (i.e., four environments) in North Dakota. Averaged across genotypes, total beta-glucan content of barley and oat groat was similar. Soluble beta-glucan content of oat groat was greater than barley, and oat groat had a greater ratio of soluble-to-total beta-glucan than barley. The soluble beta-glucan content and ratio of soluble to total beta-glucan content of the "best" barley genotypes were less than that of oat genotypes with the highest levels of these two traits.