9 - Fermented Malt Beverages and Their Biomedicinal Health Potential: Classification, Composition, Processing, and Bio-Functional Properties

Abstract

Nonalcoholic beverages are manufactured as either nonfermented or fermented beverages. Fermented beverages are being studied extensively for their health-promoting properties that have been attributed to their nutritional, nutraceutical, and medicinal characteristics. Cereal-based fermented beverages, such as barley malt beverages, are classified based on their alcoholic content in terms of either low alcohol or nonalcoholic beverages. Nonalcoholic, fermented barley malt beverages are produced by the fermentation of barley malt wort by lactic acid bacteria and tend to have high contents of fiber, phenolic compounds, and bioactive peptides. Other important characteristics of these fermented beverages are their high lactic acid content and relatively low pH (3.5–4.5). Alcohol is removed using physical methods such as heating, dialysis, and osmosis, as well as biological modifications including the use of low alcohol producing yeast strains, inactivation of fermentation, and the heating of the wort. The processing of malt beverages involves dissolving the starch granules of the wort in water, followed by filtration, addition of pure hop aroma, and carbonation. A major property of fermented barley malt beverages is their high antioxidant capacity, which may contribute physiological benefits for preventing and managing chronic diseases such as diabetes, cancer, cardiovascular, gastrointestinal, and neurodegenerative diseases. This chapter covers all aspects related to the processing, classification, composition, and bio-functional properties of fermented malt beverages, focusing on barley-based beverages and their potential as functional foods and for producing other high-value applications.