Multi-use naked barley: A new frontier

Barley (Hordeum vulgare) is one of the oldest known domesticated crops and the fourth most widely grown cereal crop in the world. Barley has three principal end-uses: feed, food, and malt. Each end-use of barley requires different characteristics, but hull adherence and beta-glucan content are important for each of the three classes. Naked (hull-less) barley, which threshes freely from the hull, makes up a very small percentage of overall barley production and is mainly grown for food end-uses. However, naked barley shows potential as a crop that can be used for multiple end-uses. This review will describe the progression of naked barley in the US as well as ongoing research at Oregon State University. With the genetic resources from around the world that are available in germplasm repositories and continued research on end-use quality, advances can be made to create a new frontier of naked barley for multiple end-uses that will benefit growers, processors, and consumers.