Abstract
In brewing, the use of cereals (wheat, barley, maize, rice, sorghum, oats, rye or millet), pseudo-cereals (buckwheat, quinoa or amaranth) and tubers (sweet potato), as starch adjuncts, is being promoted for the production of a variety of high-quality beers, from sensory and nutritional points of view. The sensory properties of the obtained beer depend on the characteristics of each adjunct but also on the forms in which the adjunct is added: whole cereal, grits, malted, extruded grains, torrefied and syrup. Among these common forms, the extruded grains (maize or rice) produce a higher content of aroma compounds in beer. From a nutritional point of view, the use of non-conventional starch adjuncts, such as black rice, buckwheat or sweet potato, leads to an increase in the polyphenol content of the beer, and thus, its antioxidant capacity. Cereals such as maize, rice, sorghum or millet are the most promising for the production of gluten-free beers. A close relationship can be developed between the use of adjuncts in the beer industry and the use of commercial enzymes. Advances made by biotechnology to design new enzymes with different functionalities could be associated to a future increase in adjunct usage in brewing.
Highlights
Cereals are widely used to produce alcoholic beverages such as beer, vodka, whisky, bourbon and others
A 20–25% decrease in the mortality rate from coronary heart disease has been found [9]. All these benefits are attributed to the nutrients from the raw materials and those created during the brewing process itself
Beer with 30% adjunct has been found to be the most acceptable, with large differences in colour and flavour scores [40]. This potato variety contains a large number of anthocyanins, so increasing the adjunct concentration leads to an increase in the concentration of anthocyanins in the beer. These facts are related to the increased antioxidant capacity of beer, which varies between 6.31–17.06% DPPH, with the antioxidant rates in beer being of the same order of magnitude as those found in fruit juices, teas and wines [40]
Summary
Cereals are widely used to produce alcoholic beverages such as beer, vodka, whisky, bourbon and others. The addition of soluble sugars to the wort increases the capacity of the brewhouse and is an easy method to produce high gravity wort and regulate wort fermentability [10] In addition to these advantages, the use of adjuncts for partial replacement of barley malt makes it possible to take advantage of availability of raw materials on the local market and often reduces production costs [11,12]. Available oat (Avena sativa L.) and sorghum (Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench) flours are employed in the brewing process to decrease mashing times due to the high solubility (extractability) of the finely grinded cereals, and reducing energy requirement and costs [13] For all these factors, the use of adjuncts in brewing is a growing market in the United States of America and Europe [14] and they are currently included in the brewing of 85–90% of beers produced globally [15]. Trace elements, such as iron, copper and zinc, are relevant due to their role as cofactors in metabolic and biosynthetic processes, such as beer fermentation [17]
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