beta-Glucan from cereal (barley and oat) grain and malt is easily determined using Calcofluor fluorescence in a microplate fluorimetre. The method is sensitive and scalable to cover a wide range of beta-glucan concentrations by simply adjusting the aliquot size used in the 96-well microplates. The microplate assay uses inexpensive reagents and commonly available instrumentation, obviating the need for investment in flow injection analysis instrumentation or commercial reagent kits, providing an attractive alternative to enzymatic kits or flow injection analysis systems.
