Malting quality and genetic diversity in Brazilian elite barley Germplasm

Barley is a cereal crop with several end uses such as animal feed and brewing, depending on the quality of the malt. Brazil produces barley mainly for brewing using as feed only the discards from the malt industry. Genotypes of barley generally have low genetic diversity as the breeding programs intend to improve the malting quality, reducing available sources for improving quality. This study investigated the malt quality (Kolbach index, β-glucans, α-amylase and diastatic power) and the genetic diversity among 11 Brazilian barley cultivars and inbred lines grown in seven different locations in southern Brazil, using molecular markers and the quality data aiming to find the potential of Brazilian barley to qualify for the international market and identifying variability for further breeding progress. BRS Cauê, PFC 2007057 and BRS Korbel showed very good values for the malt quality parameters, being promising genotypes for quality improvement. The molecular markers and the quality data showed genetic diversity among the genotypes studied suggest potential gains in breeding barley for brewing in Brazil.