The chemical composition of barley grain (Hordeum vulgare L.) landraces from the Canary Islands

Abstract

The proximate composition, total phenolics, antioxidant activity, minerals and trace elements were determined in 42 barley landraces in order to highlight their nutritional potential and promote their cultivation. Two-row barley landraces had a higher average content of starch, protein, total phenolic compounds and iron, when compared with six-row ones that presented higher mean ash and fiber concentrations. Additionally, the six-row barley landraces with strongly pigmented grains had lower zinc and manganese and higher protein mean concentrations than the whitish or lightly pigmented barley landraces. Factor analysis and linear discriminant analysis were used to correctly differentiate samples according to type of barley (landrace or commercial) and number of rows. In general, all the parameters varied considerably among the barley landraces analyzed, but some barley landraces could be emphasized according to fiber, minerals and phenolic antioxidants. There were important differences in the mean values in all the chemical parameters according to the island of origin of the barley grains. The application of Linear Discriminant Analysis also was a useful tool to differentiate all the barley landraces with six rows according to the island of origin.