Development and optimization of beer containing malted and non-malted substitutes using quality by design (QbD) approach

Abstract

Quality by Design (QbD) approach has been widely used in the pharmaceutical field, but its application in the development of food products is recent. The objective of this work was to apply QbD in the development of Ale-type beer, with up to 45% of barley malt substitutes, with alcohol content of 5.50 ± 0.55% v/v and a good sensory evaluation. A simplex-centroid mixture design was used, in which five cereals were tested: maize, oat malt, rice, rye malt, and sorghum. In the screening design, rice, maize, and oat malt were selected. The optimization design allowed the definition of the design space to meet critical quality attributes. The standard (100% barley malt) and optimized (55% barley malt, 42% oat malt, and 3% maize) formulations had similar physicochemical, fermentative, and sensory parameters. The implementation of QbD helps improve quality and reduce quality deviations. • Implementation of QbD promotes innovation in the creation of new food products. • A simplex-centroid mixture design was used during screening and optimization steps. • Design space region allowed to achieve physicochemical and sensory requirements. • Optimized beer was obtained using 55% barley malt, 42% oat malt and 3% maize.