Barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) is one of the grain cereals widely cultivated for human and animal consumption. The objective of this study was to determine the components of the peripheral layer (PL) of 4 stages of development of barley grain (Hordeum vulgare L.) (Saida 183) by manual isolation, as follows, Mg, Mn, and Ca content shows a progressive decrease through the development cycle from (1.888; 0.0645; 8.345) mg/l DM in ripening stage respectively, while Fe and Zn are increased in maturation stage (0.663; 0.360) mg/l of DM. The K content presented an important increase from 7.7 mg/ml in the maturity with a value of 30 mg/ml. The average values of crude fiber content varied from 8.4 to 16.6. These values increase significantly with the development of the barley in different stages. The phytic acid content in the fourth stage (maturation) was 8.96±0.56 mg/g DM, and the proline content was very low in the first stage with a value of (2.474 ± 0.069) mg/ml DM and in the maturation stage the value was high with a value of (7.148 ± 0.248) mg/ml DM. The optical observation of the different microstructures and progressive changes that were undergone from the first filling stage of the mid-milk stage, soft dough stage, physiological stage, and ripening stage were studied. By optical observation, there is the formation of the first protective envelope of the grain, so all the tissues of the external pericarp that is grouped with the testa. The aleurone layer was structured in three rows with an important condensation of the cells of the albumen sub-structures that are involved in the storage.
