New Zealand Journal of Crop and Horticultural Science abstracts
Role of nitrogen and dry matter partitioning
in determining the quality of malting barley
J. M. de RUITER
R. M. HASLEMORE*
New Zealand Institute for Crop & Food
Research Limited
Private Bag 4704
Christchurch, New Zealand
*Present address: R. J. Hill Laboratories, P. O. Box 4048, Hamilton, New
Zealand.
Abstract Variation in quality of grain for malting is caused
by a complex set of interacting factors during the growth of the crop. Poor
quality grain resulting from high screening percentage, high nitrogen (N)
concentrations, or low malt extract levels occur particularly when soil
conditions are dry during grain filling or if soil N management is
inappropriate for dryland conditions. Commercial and experimental malting
barley crops (Hordeum vulgare L. `Triumph') were monitored over three
seasons to determine if the variation in quality could be explained by
differences in the pattern of partitioning of crop dry matter (DM) and N
accumulation. Screenings, grain N content, malt extract, and indicators of malt
modification were strongly influenced by total crop N yield or crop N
concentration at anthesis. The level of mobilisation of N reserves to the grain
during grain filling was also correlated with grain and malt quality, whereas
the level of post-anthesis N uptake had little effect. The best opportunities
for manipulating malting quality were during early growth. Under dryland
conditions there was less likelihood of excessive grain N concentration if a
greater proportion of the grain N was derived from post-anthesis N uptake.
Management options for obtaining high yield and yet maintaining an acceptable
grain quality for malting under non-irrigated conditions include the
possibility of N application up to anthesis. However, this would be recommended
only if growth conditions allowed near-maximum accumulation of DM in grain and
the predominant source of DM for grain filling was from current photosynthate
rather than stem reserve mobilisation.
Keywords Hordeum vulgare L.; nitrogen uptake; malting
quality; nitrogen partitioning; grain nitrogen; malt extract; micro-malting
New Zealand Journal of Crop and Horticultural Science, 1996, Vol. 24:
77-87
0114-0671/96/2401-0077 $2.50/0 (c) The Royal Society of New Zealand
1996
PDF file of entire paper: medium quality (858K); (scanned from paper original: notes about this process)
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