Yushu Black Highland Barley

Yushu Black Highland Barley

Yushu Black Highland Barley is a product with geographical indication status.

　　Yushu Black Highland Barley

　　Highland barley is a type of barley, mainly produced in Tibetan areas such as Tibet, Qinghai, Sichuan, and Shangri-La in Yunnan. It is a staple food for the Tibetan people. It is currently the grain crop with the highest β-glucan content in the world, which means high-quality highland barley is expected to become the most "valuable" grain crop.

　　Black Highland Barley Becomes a Treasure for Prosperity

　　Highland barley wine is well known, but black highland barley is less familiar, not to mention the beer brewed from it. In recent years, the Yushu Prefecture has decided to process the highly nutritious black highland barley into beer as part of its agricultural transformation efforts. This year, black highland barley beer will be produced in batches and is expected to hit the market by the end of the year. It is reported that the main raw material for the black highland barley beer comes from Chenduo County in Yushu Prefecture, where there are approximately 50,000 mu of black highland barley fields.

　　Grain

　　Geographic Range

　　The counties of Nangqian, Chenduo, and the city of Yushu in Yushu Prefecture are known as the eastern three counties of Yushu. They are located roughly between 95°21′ to 97°07′ east longitude and 31°32′ to 32°43′ north latitude, stretching 157.5 km from east to west and up to 130.5 km from north to south, covering a total area of 12,741 square kilometers. Among this, 280,700 mu of arable land fall within the geographical indication protection area for Yushu Black Highland Barley.

　　Product Quality Characteristics

　　1. External Sensory Characteristics of Yushu Black Highland Barley: 1.1 Seed Characteristics and Uses: The naked grains of Yushu Black Highland Barley are blackish-brown, oval-shaped, plump, and uniform. They are the main ingredient for making “tsampa,” can be used to brew beverages like “highland barley wine,” and serve as the primary raw material for processing various specialty foods such as noodles. 1.2 Plant Traits: The seedlings grow upright, with green leaves, white auricles, and a horizontally spreading leaf posture. The average plant height is 91.4 cm, and can reach up to 110 cm. The plant type is semi-loose, with an average height of 102.7±2.4 cm. The stems are yellow, with a diameter of 4.13±1.5 mm, medium elasticity, and little wax powder. There are five stem nodes, with the first internode at the base of the main stem being 2.77±0.29 cm long, the second 9.0±1.3 cm, and the internode below the spike 31.4±1.8 cm. There are 0.25 tillers per plant, with a tillering-to-spike rate of 40%, and the plants are uniformly upright across the field. 1.3 Spike Traits: The spikes fully emerge, with closed glumes during pollination, and the spike neck droops. The spikes are spindle-shaped, averaging 4.8 cm in length and 28.7 grains per spike. Longer spikes can reach 7 cm with up to 65 grains. The spikes are purple, with light purple to purple glumes and yellow to red awns. The grains are diamond-shaped, dark-colored (or deep gray, dark brown), with an average thousand-grain weight of 35 grams, up to 46 grams, classifying it as a large-grained variety of highland barley, with an average of 1.63 tillers per plant. 1.4 Stress Resistance: The barley exhibits tolerance to cold, drought, humidity, and salinity, with moderate resistance, and is resistant to lodging. 2. Internal Quality of Yushu Black Highland Barley: Yushu Black Highland Barley contains ≥60% starch, ≥10% protein, ≥10% dietary fiber, and ≥1.4% fat. It is rich in niacin, selenium, and various mineral nutrients, has a variety of types, meets ideal seed appearance standards, and offers excellent storage properties, making it an ideal raw material for producing black highland barley products. 3. Safety Requirements: Yushu Black Highland Barley must be produced strictly in accordance with relevant national standard systems.