PROTEIN-I research: Cereals grown in Ireland for human food
Increasing the quantities of Irish crops used directly in the human food chain would have huge value-added benefits for the entire crop sector and significant environmental benefits, due to the lower carbon footprint of crop-based diet components. Sinead Dermody tells us more.
The scope for using Irish cereals for human food is largely untapped. This research, which is part of the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine funded PROTEIN-I project, focuses on the potential of a range of cereal crops to contribute to human nutrition with a focus on: unique nutritional characteristics; reduced input production; exploitation of organic manures and other amendments. There is a particular focus on varieties in this work and currently there are multi-location field trials of rye and spring wheat varieties, along with detailed winter barley studies in place.
Research focus: Winter Barley
Annually, barley occupies the most arable area in Ireland. Grain predominantly enters the livestock feed chain and a proportion is grown for alcohol. Given the native success of the crop, investigating barley in the context of human food is a step towards generating new markets for Irish growers and addressing the low self-sufficiency of plant products.
Beta glucan
(1,3;1,4)-β-glucan is a dietary fibre found in barley, among the many nutritive components of the grain. According to scientific studies, sufficient daily consumption of beta glucan has proven benefits for cardiovascular and endocrine health. The level of this component in the grain is heavily influenced by genotype, meaning targeted variety choice can enable production of grain/flour with high levels of this trait. Factors such as nitrogen fertilisation and weather are less influential.
Research actions
With knowledge of the significance of variety choice and a scarcity of research on beta glucan in winter barley in Ireland, the initial trial was planted in 2022, involving over 350 lines. Seed was derived from new, old, international and native sources and involves two-row, six-row, hulled and naked types.
In the below video, Sinead gives a brief overview of her research work, with a particular focus on winter barley:
The aim is to select the top 10% of varieties in terms of beta glucan concentration for further research, while also monitoring other traits of agronomic importance. To quantify this trait, following harvest, milled grain samples will be exposed to enzymatic hydrolysis and subsequent spectrophotometric analysis. These actions combined, will reveal varieties with healthy human food potential and good agronomic performance in Ireland. This will create the option for the food industry to utilise locally grown barley grain/flour as a dietary component with added beta glucan related benefits.
Sinead Dermody, a Walsh Scholar completing a PhD under the supervision of Dr. Susanne Barth, will present more information on this topic at the Crops and Cover Crop Cultivations Open Day on Wednesday, June 21st, in Teagasc Oak Park.