Barley is a resilient plant, tolerant of a range of conditions, and may have been cultivated since 15,000 BC (Fast & Caldwell, 2000). Cultivated barley, Hordeum vulgare, is mainly grown for animal feed, especially for pigs, for malting and brewing in the manufacture of beer and for distilling in whisky manufacture. A small amount of barley is used for food. Pearled barley is eaten in soups and stews in the UK and in the Far and Middle East; barley is also used in bread (as flour) and ground as porridge in some countries (Kent & Evers, 1994).

The barley head or spike is made up of spikelets, which are attached to the rachis in an alternating pattern. The outer layers of the barley kernel consist of a husk, completely covering the grain; the pericarp (to which the husk is tightly joined in most species); the testa or seed coat and the aleurone.

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