Composition and Agronomic Characteristics of Korean Barley Cultivar for the Research of Ethanol Production.

Barley is the fourth largest cereal grain crop produced worldwide and the most utilized cereal grain in terms of human consumption. Barley has starch the highest single component in grain and some parts of barley are excellent for making fuel. Interest in the use of barley as a raw material for ethanol production has increased. 29 barley(Hordeum vulgare L.) cultivars of korea were tested for their potential as a raw material for ethanol production. We analyzed for protein, β-glucan, starch content, hull ratio and investigated for agronomic characteristics in this study. They were grown and harvest at Iksan, southern area of Korea in 2008. Protein, β-glucan and starch content ranged from 9.5-13.2%, 4.33-7.39%, 49.1-58.3%, respectively. Starch content negatively correlated with protein content and β-glucan content. Husk ratio ranged 7.38-13.98% and chalbori had the highest value. Starch content negatively correlated (r=-0.66538, p<0.05) with husk ratio. Agronomic yield ranged from 546.3-782.6 kg/10a and was the highest for Keunalbori 1. Bio-ethanol yield ranged from 307.6-340.8L/ton. Starch content was highly correlated with final ethanol yield. The study showed that ethanol production has high correlation with starch content and agronomic yield in this set of Korean barley cultivars.