Protein Content and Composition of Karl and Related Barleys1

The six‐rowed malting barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) cultivar ‘Karl’, which is lower in protein than other malting barleys, was studied to determine how its protein composition differed from that of other six‐rowed barleys. Karl and one of its parents, CI 7147, had significantly lower concentrations of total protein and hordein than ‘Traill’ its other parent, closely related cultivars ‘Good Delta’ and ‘Everest’, and ‘Larker’, a check cultivar. The “Karl‐type” barleys tended to have a greater proportion of salt‐soluble proteins than the other barleys, but glutelin and residual proteins did not differ markedly between the two types.Lysine concentration of the grain averaged 4.1 g/100 g protein in four Karl‐type barleys and 3.4 in seven non‐Karl type barleys, but lysine concentrations on a sample basis (g amino acid/100 g barley, dry basis) were 0.52 and 0.54, respectively. Under conditions of varied N uptake, hordein was the major repository of protein N in Karl barley. In this respect Karl is similar to other barleys.