Screening of durum wheat landraces (Triticum turgidum subsp. durum) for the malting suitability

Durum (T. turgidum subsp. durum) wheat production worldwide is substantially less than that of common wheat (Triticum aestivum) mainly due to the relatively limited end-users. In order to evaluate malting and brewing suitability, sixteen old durum wheat landraces were malted at micro scale. Results show malt quality parameters in the range 78.2–85.9% for the extract, 72.9–80.9% for the fermentability, 3–5 EBC units for the colour, 0.49–0.79% dm for water-extractable arabinoxylans and 0.043–0.059% dm for the β-glucans. Regarding wort viscosity (1.53–1.92 mPa s), we found negative correlation with endo-1,4-β-D-xylanase, positive correlation with endo-β-glucanases and soluble proteins, while no correlations were found with arabinoxylan and betaglucan wort content. These results showed that some durum wheats, such as Trentino, Martinella, Gioia, Inglesa, Francesa, Giustalisa and Bidì have suitable characteristics for malting and brewing. The improvement of the malting process is required for the other durum wheats.