Test to find quality grain
Test to find quality grain
NEW tests which reveal the internal structure of barley and wheat grains could help growers produce high quality malts for beer and whisky, according to a research project funded by the Home-Grown Cereals Authority.
The collaborative project using light and electron microscopy methods investigated the mealy or steely endosperm of barley and wheat grains.
Checks on the malting barley varieties, Chariot and Blenheim, showed fungicide applications seem to increase the mealiness of malting barleys, improving malting quality.
Similarly, wheat treated with fungicides had lower nitrogen content and higher thousand corn weight, specific weight and starch content.
This gave higher spirit yield than the wheat grown without the use of fungicides confirming the value of correct fungicide, the HGCA says. *