Responses of grain growth and malting quality of barley to short periods of high temperature in field studies using portable chambers

Although environmental conditions during grain filling are often cited as the reason for decreases in malting quality of barley, little is actually known about the specific effects of different environmental conditions on grain yield and quality of barley. In the present study, an attempt was made to assess in the field the effects of short periods of high temperature (>35�C), using portable chambers with thermostatically controlled electric heaters, on grain yield and quality of barley. Two experiments were carried out in 2 consecutive years, involving the malting barley cultivars Schooner (first year) and Parwan (second year). The treatments were (i) control (no chamber, no heating) during the whole grain-filling period, (ii) plots with chambers heated to ca. 40�C for 6 h per day over 5 days starting 17 days after anthesis, and (iii) plots with non-heated chambers for 5 days from 17 days after anthesis. High temperature treatments reduced individual grain weight by 14% in Schooner and 25% in Parwan. There was a reduction in starch content and an increase in nitrogen content in the heat treatments compared to the control, but the G-glucan content was similar to the control. The resulting malt extract was reduced from 79 to 73% in Schooner and from 68.4 to 66.2% in Parwan in ,the heat stress treatment. The starch granule size distribution was also measured. Results indicate that decreases in grain dry matter were due to reductions in number rather than size of starch granules. It is concluded that high temperature reduced the amount of 'maltable' grain by reducing grain size and increasing the screening percentage, and also reduced malt extract by 3-7%, which represents a large decrease for the malting industry.