flour Properties
starch and Protein Contents. The total starch content of nonroasted barley samples varied from 49.0 to 60.1% (P< 0.05; Table III). As expected, the hulless variety Demhay had the highest starch content. The starch content of the hulled varieties ranged from 49.0 to 56.9%; the lowest total starch contents were observed in Himblil, Haftusene, and Saesa (Table III). The amylose content of nonroasted samples ranged from 17 to 21%. No varietal differences were found in either amylose or protein content.
The chemical composition changed to some extent with processing. Starch and protein contents increased slightly in lightly roasted (tihni) samples and in creased further in well-roasted (kolo) samples (Table IV). These changes reflect the removal of the hull from roasted samples, which were removed more extensively from kolo samples.
Glucan Content. The B-glucan contents of the eight commercial varieties selected for this study were within the normal variation reported for barley (40) Because the intake of B-glucans may be related to human health there is an increasing interest in the documentation of B-glucan content in raw materials