STUDY OF HYDROTHERMAL TREATMENT OF DRIED MALT WITH PLASMOCHEMICALLY ACTIVATED AQUEOUS SOLUTIONS

Abstract

Studying the specific technological features and functional properties of foodstuffs made with the addition of malt is a particular priority for scientists and experts in the food processing industry. The paper deals with the peculiarities of malt processing, namely, with how it is humidified by means of plasmochemically activated aqueous solutions with different concentrations of hydrogen peroxides. The study presented deals with hydrothermal treatment of dry malt with solutions activated by the action of non-equilibrium contact plasma. In the course of this treatment, microparticles of hydrogen peroxide are formed. When in contact with the raw materials, they can form active oxygen, which is an agent stimulating biochemical transformations that activate the mashing and extraction of malt. The hydrogen peroxide concentration has been determined for the solutions used for further hydrothermal treatment of malt. It has been established which modes of hydrothermal treatment of dry germinated barley grain with plasmochemically activated aqueous solutions ensure the fastest absorption of moisture by malt. The highest water absorption rate was observed in the samples with activated water where the peroxide concentration was 600mg/l. It has been studied how the degree of malt swelling changed with the temperature and mash ratio. When ordinary water was used, the optimum mash ratio was 1:4 (65°С), and with activated water, a similar result was obtained with the mash ratio 1:3, which allows reducing water consumption in the process. The process of malt mashing has been studied, and the malt extracting capacity analysed. When plasmochemically activated aqueous solutions were used, the extracting capacity was observed to be increasing noticeably by 0.06–0.41%, depending on the mashing mode. It has been proved that the antiseptic properties of the activated water allow extra disinfection of raw materials. Using activated aqueous solutions reduces pathogen contamination of grain. It has been found that absolute destruction of mould microflora is possible at high concentrations of peroxides in the solutions. The paper highlights the operational parameters that can be used during industrial processing of malt, and gives recommendations for the use of plasmochemically activated aqueous solutions in barley malt processing.