Abstract:

In order to explore the effects of different planting densities, nitrogen application rates and their interactions on the quality of highland barley, ‘Yundamai 12’, a new high-yield record variety of winter highland barley in China, was used as the material to study the effects of planting density, nitrogen application rate and their interaction on the quality of nutritional and functional components, such as protein, γ-aminobutyric acid, β-glucan, total starch, amylose, total flavonoids, alkaloids and fatty acids by split plot experiment. The results showed that the content of γ-aminobutyric acids, β-glucan and fatty acids of ‘Yundamai 12’ were less affected by planting density and nitrogen application rate. Protein and amylose contents were mainly affected by nitrogen application rate. The content of total starch, total flavonoids and alkaloids were greatly affected by nitrogen application rate and planting density. In summary, the best combination of planting density and nitrogen application rate for ‘Yundamai 12’ as food, especially functional food, is D1N3.

Key words: ‘Yundamai12’, highland barley, planting density, nitrogen rate, density-nitrogen interaction, functional components