Divergence of barley and oat varieties according to their content of β-glucan

Barley and oat have been promoted for years as good sources of dietary fiber, especially β -glucan. Studies have shown a positive effect of bar­ley and oat β -glucan on human health and as a result, there has been an inc­reasing demand for β -glucans in the past decade. Thus, the variability of the β -glucan content was investigated in the grain of 10 barley and 10 oat varieties. The β -glucan contents were determined by the ICC Standard Method No 168. The content of β -glucan in the analyzed barley varieties were within the range 3.52–7.81 % and in analyzed oat varieties, the content of β -glucan were within the range of 3.15–7.28 %. Among analyzed barley varieties, Novosadski 314 contained the highest content of β -glucan (7.81 %), while Tomba had the high­est content of β -glucan (7.28%) in the analyzed oat varieties. Based on the results, it could be concluded that there is genetic diversity of oat and barley varieties with respect to their β -glucan content. This fact enables varieties with a high a nutritional capacity to be selected.