Variation of kernel protein and lysine in the wild progenitor of barley

The kernel weight, degree of collapse of the endosperm, and protein and lysine content were determined in 231 wild or weedy strains of Hordeum vulgare ssp. spontaneum. The strains orginate from Israel and the material analyzed was raised in Finland. The mean kernel weight was 35.8 mg (range 15.3 to 53.0 mg). The mean protein content was 20.1 % (range 15.4 to 27.6 %). The mean lysine content of the meal was 0.57 % (range 0.44 to 0.79 %), and of the protein 2.86 % (range 2.16 to 3.60 %). There was no significant difference between the kernel type ranks ‘thin or shrunken’, ‘depressed’, and ‘plump’ in the four characteristics above. The depressed kernel type was prevalent in the material raised in Finland. An adaptive significance of the depressed kernels is suggested at the embedding of the seeds into the ground. No significant correlation was found between protein content and protein lysine content. Many of the differences between samples from different geobotanical regions were significant. Evidence is presented that about 5–10 % of the strains may be regarded as high-lysine, high-protein barleys according to this single evaluation. The use of this germplasm in reconstructing normal-protein, high-lysine cultivars with the domesticated kernel type is suggested.