New healthy barley in the ground for 2008 season

Food manufacturers will soon have access to large amounts of a new healthier barley variety, developed by the Food Futures Flagship.

Large scale commercial crops of BARLEYmax® are now being sown following the signing of a license agreement between a CSIRO/Australian Capital Ventures Limited joint venture and Austgrains Pty Ltd, which specialises in supplying grain and functional food ingredients to the food manufacturing industry.

BARLEYmax® is a unique grain with very high levels of both insoluble and soluble fibre – more than twice as much as wheat or oats – and high levels of resistant starch.

Clinical testing has shown that foods made with BARLEYmax® have a low Glycaemic Index (GI) and strong health benefits for digestive and bowel health.

Austgrains Pty Ltd is now sowing a mix of irrigated and dryland BARLEYmax® in the grain belt of northern New South Wales and south-eastern Queensland, taking advantage of a range of cropping environments to maximise yields. When the 2008 crop is harvested towards the end of the year, it is expected that large amounts of the unique grain will be available for Australian food manufacturers.

BARLEYmax® has excellent processing qualities and has been used for successful test products such as breakfast cereals, breads, muffins and health bars.

As long as the expected winter rains arrive, healthy foods made with BARLEYmax® should be on Australian supermarket shelves in the near future.

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