September 17, 2003

Research is revealing some old secrets about colour defects in barley grain – especially black point – which causes 10 per cent of Australian malting barley to be downgraded.

Supported by the Grains Research & Development Corporation, a Queensland Department of Primary Industries research team has tested elite breeding lines from around Australia, together with doubled haploid and commercial cultivars.

Recent studies suggest that black point is not the result of fungal disease, but is associated with a biochemical reaction, in particular phenolic acid metabolism.

Project leader, Glen Fox, said germination studies showed that black point affected barley germination and an understanding of the phenolic compounds involved in black point formation could throw light on the dormancy-like condition of black pointed grain.