Cereal Chem 61:295 - 301.  |  VIEW ARTICLE
Identification of Canadian Barley Cultivars by Reversed-Phase High-Performance Liquid Chromatography.

B. A. Marchylo and J. E. Kruger. Copyright 1984 by the American Association of Cereal Chemists, Inc. 

The potential of reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography (RP-HPLC) was assessed for identification of Canadian barley cultivars. An RP-HPLC system previously described by Bietz was adapted to resolve components of the barley prolamin (hordein) protein fraction. Sample preparation and chromatographic conditions were optimized. A significantly larger number of hordein components were resolved by RP-HPLC as compared to electrophoretic techniques. Elution profiles were reproducible. Analysis of 12 Canadian cultivars showed that 10 could be distinguished easily on the basis of elution profiles. The two remaining cultivars showed identical elution profiles, but they could be distinguished by reproducible quantitative differences in the proportions of C and B hordeins. An environmental study demonstrated that elution profile was independent of growth location, year of growth, and protein content. However, a statistically significant interaction between year and location of growth and the proportion of C and B hordeins was evident. However, this interaction did not appear large enough to influence the distinguishability of cultivars based on differences in the C and B hordein proportions. RP-HPLC has considerable potential to serve as a barley cultivar identification technique.