National Institute of Crop Science Develops ‘BetaHealth’ Barley Reduces post-meal blood sugar spikes Improves blood cholesterol levels Resistant to lodging and reduces maturation period by one week Expands cultivation area and promotes distribution to farms Expects activation of processed products such as noodles and tea As the cultivation area of functional barley increases, attention is being paid to whether commercialization will accelerate beyond simple cultivation growth. The National Institute of Crop Science is expanding the cultivation area of a new functional barley variety called ‘BetaHealth’. BetaHealth is a barley variety with the highest beta-glucan content among domestically bred barley varieties. Beta-glucan can lower post-meal blood sugar spikes and improve blood cholesterol levels. BetaHealth contains 14.2% beta-glucan, more than double the 4-6% found in ordinary barley. It also contains about 2% more beta-glucan than the previously high-beta-glucan ‘BetaOne’ ...