Grain with ventral swelling (GVS) is one type of damaged grains in malting barley. We examined the occurrence of GVS by sprinkling water during the late-ripening stage to develop a method of selection for GVS using 26 lines. The method enabled to detect GVS in all the 26 lines by sprinkling 50mm water/day five times for a consecutive period of 2days with 2-day intervals during the late-ripening stage, and the percentage of occurrence of GVS ranged from 0.9% to 16.8% depending on the cultivars and lines. In 13 lines among all the lines, a positive correlation in the percentage of GVS was found between water sprinkling and the year with sever damage under ordinary conditions. No significant correlation was detected between the percentage of GVS and heading date or date of maturity. These results suggest that cultivars with GVS tolerance could be selected by artificial water sprinkling during the late-ripening stage.

View full abstract