Correlations between Barley Constituents and the Browning Reaction in Heat-Treated Barley Pastes

The browning reaction in barley products after boiling or steaming is undesirable in human food. We estimated the degree of browning reaction—the browning index (BI)—by the difference in the Hunter’s whiteness values of barley pastes before and after heat treatment (90\\xa1 C, 2 h). The apparent polyphenol content of barley flours, as determined by the Prussian blue method, was significantly correlated with BI in 42 barley varieties (r=0.766, pBIs. Of the constituents of the crude polyphenol fraction, levels of prodelphinidin B3, procyanidin B3, an unidentified compound (‘compound C’) and (+)-catechin were correlated with BI (r=0.595, pr=0.599, pr=0.400, pr=0.384, p