DIGGING DEEPER INTO GRAIN QUALITY THROUGH 'OMICS PLATFORMS

The objective of this project is to 1. provide detailed data on the genetic, environmental and processing effects on the gelatinization temperatures (GT) of barley and malt, and the effect of GT on fermentable sugar production during malting and brewing.Traditional methods quantify grain quality at the macro level, for example, protein content. But there are a hundreds of individual proteins, metabolites, organic acids, minerals and vitamins. Industries such as the barley, malting and brewing have relied on these macro components but the depth of data required to fully understand the complex biochemical composition of malting and brewing is missing. This project will provide important data on the variation in GT and it influence on fermentable sugars (linked to the key enzymes that hydrolyze starch).