Relationship Between Proteinase Activity During Malting and Malt Quality

Abstract

Proteinase activity was investigated in malt from various barley lines. Results indicated that the total activity and the activity of each class of proteinase varied among the barley lines tested. Cysteine proteinase activity most closely correlated to the malting quality factors such as content of soluble nitrogen and Kolbach index, which shows the important role of cysteine proteinase in the degradation of storage protein in germinating barley. The zymogram pattern was examined by SDS-PAGE in the pedigree ‘Hokuiku 27’. The results suggest that the activities of low molecular weight cysteine proteinase have a strong influence on the content of soluble nitrogen and Kolbach index in this pedigree.