Adsorption of Purine Compounds in Beer with Activated Carbon Prepared from Beer Lees

Abstract

Six hundred thousand tons of beer lees are discharged annually in Japanese breweries. It is well known that purine compounds are one of substances which cause the gout and beer especially contains a lot of purine compounds such as adenosine, adenosine 5’-phosphate and so on, compared with the other alcoholic drinks. The application of activated carbon prepared from beer lees was investigated in order to remove purine compounds in beer. The reuse and recycling of beer lees to activated carbon for removing purine compounds in beer could make a contribution to the zero emission in breweries. In this study, the effect of physical properties of activated carbon derived from beer lees on the adsorption behavior of purine compounds was researched. Adenine, adenosine and adenosine 5’-phosphate, which are one of purine compounds, are selected as an example of model compounds in beer. The size of purine compounds and the pore structure of activated carbon affect the adsorption characteristic of purine compounds. It is found that beer lees can be reused and recycled in breweries by transforming to beer lees activated carbon for removing purine compounds in beer.