Environmental stresses and its implications on breeding of brewing barley

Abstract

The barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) is a cereal of extreme economic and social importance, due to its wide use, which varies from human and animal consumption, use in chemical and brewing industries. This specie, as for many other, is widely affected by unfavorable environmental conditions, inducing a state of stress in the plants, which, depends on the specie, duration, severity, development stage, affect structure and genotype. Among the main factors causing stress in plants, the abiotic stress stands out, such as high and low temperatures, hydric restriction or excess, salt excess, mineral toxicity and nutritional shortages. The present study has the purpose of expose, as a review, the effects of unfavorable environmental factors in barley and the role of genetic breeding.