Black point of barley: Is grain quality affected?

Abstract

There are two components of quality in malting barley: the first is grain quality and the second is malt quality. To ensure that malt of the highest quality is produced during the time-limited malting process, the barley must be able to germinate vigorously and uniformly. It has been proposed that black point can affect the germination of barley grains. As a consequence, black pointed grain is routinely downgraded from malt quality to feed quality resulting in substantial losses to the grower. However limited research has been carried out to determine whether black pointed grains behave differently to clean grains during the malting process. Our research found that black point did not reduce germination energy of the grain, with black pointed grains able to germinate as readily as clean grains. This paper discusses germination energy, alphaamylase activity and microscopic investigation of the grain in relation to grain viability and black point, to determine the suitability of black point discoloured grain for use in malting.