Microflora of barley kernels.

Numbers and kinds of microflora were determined in 160 samples of barley grown in different regions of the United States; microflora were more abundant in the grains grown in the central states than in those grown in the western states. During steeping and germination in micromalting equipment, the number of colonies of filamentous fungi increased from two to five times, colonies of yeasts from five to ten times, and bacteria from 50 to more than 100 times the numbers present in the grain before malting. Kiln drying according to a commercial schedule reduced the number of all types of microflora below the number present before kilning, but all were present in larger numbers in the kilned malt than in the original grain. In barley stored at room temperature and at a moisture content of 15 to 18%, members of the Aspergillus glaucus group increased with increasing time and increasing moisture content, and germination percentage of the seeds decreased. Stored free of storage fungi at room temperature, barley with a moisture content just over 15% retained a high germination percentage for 5 months, but at a moisture content of 16% the germination decreased to zero.