Cereal Chem 60:166 - 171.  |  VIEW ARTICLE
Glutamic Acid Decarboxylase Activity as a Measure of Percent Germination for Barley.

W. M. Lamkin, S. W. Nelson, B. S. Miller, and Y. Pomeranz. Copyright 1983 by the American Association of Cereal Chemists, Inc. 

A simple, rapid procedure was developed for determining barley glutamic acid decarboxylase activity. Activity was measured by nondispersive infrared analysis of the rate of carbon dioxide evolution from a buffered glutamic acid solution in which a ground barley sample was suspended. About 15 min was required for an individual measurement. Activity of the enzyme proved to be a useful index of viability, and the procedure might be employed to supplement the currently used germination tests. All the samples together, including both two-rowed and six-rowed barleys, showed a highly significant correlation between activity and percent germination (r = 0.916***). In samples representing a single cultivar, the correlation was even better, with a correlation coefficient of 0.982*** obtained for the cultivar Larker. Correlation coefficients obtained in relating the logarithm of the enzyme activity to percent germination were about the same as those found using the activity alone. The procedure was not applicable to samples containing a significant number of sprouted kernels.