Oats are known for their abundance of quality proteins and lipids compared to those of other grain crops; they especially contain a large amount of good quality fibers, including β-glucan. The Korean domestic consumption of oats is rapidly increasing due to their high nutritional value. However, the research for functional food breeding material has been insufficient because oats have been focused on as feed. Therefore, this study aimed to evaluate the agronomic traits and important nutritional ingredients, including β-glucan, protein, lipid, fiber, and dietary fiber, of 142 oat germplasms from Korea, China, and Japan, which are maintained in the National Agrobiodiversity Center. In addition, the diversity by origin of the germplasms was analyzed based on their agronomic traits. For the agronomic characteristics, Korean oat germplasms were on average headed and matured earlier than the Chinese and Japanese ones. Seven accessions, including IT151107, were matured before mid-June, which makes double cropping possible in the Southern region of Korea. In the diversity analysis by origin based on quantitative agronomic traits, Korean oat germplasms were in the distinguished group compared to Chinese and Japanese germplasms. Oat germplasm had a wider range of main ingredients compared to that of Korean domestic oat cultivars. However, Chinese germplasms had a significantly higher β-glucan content, while Korean germplasms had significantly higher crude protein, crude lipid, and crude fiber contents, than did other germplasms from other origins. Dietary fiber contents showed no significant differences between origins. IT129802 (China), IT166594 (Korea), IT166584 (Korea), IT151108 (Korea), and IT129798 (China) showed the highest β-glucan, protein, lipid, fiber, and dietary fiber contents, respectively. These selected oat germplasms can be superior breeding materials for various functional and agronomic purposes.
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