Relationships Between Fructans Content and Barley Malt Quality

Fructans are fructose polymers derived from sucrose and like starch are naturally present in many plants as reserve carbohydrates. The aims of this study were to determine the content of fructans in both grain and malt barley samples and to examine the relationships between fructan content and malt quality parameters such as hot water extract (HWE), apparent attenuation limit (AAL) and viscosity. The relationships between fructan content and malt quality parameters were first investigated using Pearson correlations. A positive and statistically significant (p < 0.05) correlation between fructan content and HWE (r = 0.73) and a negative and statistically significant with viscosity (r = −0.45) was found; however, there was no relationship between fructan content and AAL in the malt sample set analysed. The results from this study showed that diverse barley varieties have different fructan contents in grain and corresponding malt which may determine differences in final malt quality.