THE PROPERTIES,COMPOSITION AND FERMENTABILITIES OF WORTS MADE FROM 100% RAW SORGHUM AND COMMERCIAL ENZYMES

A mashing regime was developed using 100% raw sorghum which enabled commercially acceptable hot water extracts to be obtained in 85 minutes with minimal use of a heat stable α-amylase and proteolytic enzymes. This gave worts of HWE 295 1°/kg, with FAN levels of about 40 mg/l and ammonium ion concentration of about 60 mg/l. Higher, but commercially unacceptable, levels of proteolytic enzymes gave worts with FAN from 84.5 to 95 (mg/l). Addition of an amyloglucosidase as the commercial preparation Amylo300L, was required to convert the HWE to fermentable extract. The addition of Amylo300L, increased the DP1, DP2 and DP3 carbohydrate fractions of the worts from 22% to more than 90% of the total, compared to about 80% for a wort made from malted barley without the use of enzymes. Two different proteolytic enzymes gave different extracts and FAN contents presumably reflecting either differences in susceptibilities of the sorghum to the two enzymes or the presence of different additional enzyme activities in the different preparations. The level of ammonium ions in malted barley worts was 86 mg/l and up to 88 mg/l in worts produced from sorghum and enzymes. Enzyme addition produced increased levels of ammonia. The content of Group A (the most readily assimilated) amino acids was proportionally higher in sorghum worts compared to malted barley wort. Worts made from raw sorghum and enzymes, containing as little as 40 mg/l FAN, were fully attenuated. The yeast consumed about 35 mg/l FAN and 45 mg/l ammonium ions. Under identical fermentation conditions, the same yeast, fermenting a malted barley wort of comparable extract consumed 104 mg/l FAN and 37 mg/l ammonium ions.     

COMPARISON OF THE MALT CHARACTERISTICS OF TRADITIONAL AND IMPROVED VARIETIES OF SORGHUM VULGARE FROM GHANA

The malt characteristics of six agronomically improved varieties of sorghum in Ghana were compared to traditionally grown local varieties. The diastatic activities of the traditional varieties were found to be better than the improved breeds. The Improved breed, Kadaga, produced extract yields comparable to the traditional varieties. Free amino nitrogen content of Nagawhite worts were also comparable to those of the traditional varieties. The malt characteristics of all the varieties tested varied remarkably, but none of the improved breeds was found to be better than the traditional varieties in terms of their potential in brewing.     

FERMENTATION OF WORTS MADE FROM 100% RAW SORGHUM AND ENZYMES

Worts made from raw sorghum and enzymes were successfully fermented even though the level of FAN present (51 mg/l) is well below that essential for fermentation of wort made from malted barley. Changes in typical fermentation parameters such as specific gravity, pH uptake of free amino nitrogen (FAN) and ammonium ions mirrored the increase in yeast cell concentration. Yeast viability remained high throughout the fermentation. Under identical fermentation conditions, malted barley worts showed typical fermentation profiles. However, malted barley worts with specific gravity maintained by the addition of D-glucose, but in which the FAN was diluted to a level similar to that found in a wort made from sorghum and enzymes, fermented more slowly and failed to attenuate fully. Five consecutive fermentations, using yeast cropped from the preceding to pitch the current fermentation were conducted. The specific gravity profiles were essentially the same in all five fermentations. Final values of pH, yeast in suspension, yeast viability and FAN were also indistinguishable. The yeast crop taken from fermentations of worts made from raw sorghum and enzymes represented a 5-fold increase over the initial pitching rate. When compared to commercial beers, the beers derived from fermentation of worts made from raw sorghum and enzymes contained lower levels of ethyl acetate, and higher levels of both 2- and 3-methyl butanol. In the beers derived from sorghum, isobutanol was always less than 20% of the total higher alcohol concentration.     

ROLE OF ALPHA-GLUCOSIDASE IN THE FERMENTABLE SUGAR COMPOSITION OF SORGHUM MALT MASHES*

The cause of the high glucose to maltose ratio in sorghum malt worts was studied. Mashing temperature and pH strongly affected both the amount of glucose and the proportion of glucose relative to total fermentable sugars. The relative proportion of glucose was higher when mashing was performed. at pH 4.0, close to the pH optimum for sorghum alpha-glucosidase, than at the natural pH of the mash (pH 6.0–5.5). Mashing according to the EBC procedure using an enzymic malt extract with pre-cooked malt insoluble solids producing a wort containing maltose and glucose in an approximately 4:1 ratio, whereas mashing with a malt extract without pre-cooking the malt insoluble solids resulted in a wort with approximately equal amounts of maltose and glucose. Both treatments gave the same quantity of total fermentable sugars and amount of wort extract. Sorghum alpha-glucosidase was confirmed to be highly insoluble in water. All or virtually all activity was associated with the insoluble solids. Hence, it appears that the high amount of glucose formed when sorghum malt is mashed conventionally is due to alpha-glucosidase activity. Pre-cooking the malt insoluble solids inactivates the alpha-glucosidase, preventing the hydrolysis of maltose to glucose.     

Studies on the mashing conditions of teff (Eragrostis tef) malt as a raw material for lactic acid‐fermented gluten‐free beverage

Formation of extracts and fermentable sugars during mashing can be limited by incomplete starch gelatinisation. The aim of this research was to develop mashing programme for 100% teff malt as a potential raw material for gluten‐free lactic acid‐fermented beverage. Isothermal mashing at temperatures ranging between 60 and 84 °C was conducted, and the highest extract (85%) was observed for the wort samples produced at temperatures higher than 76 °C. Sixty‐minute rest at 71 °C resulted in higher fermentable sugars than other tested conversion rest temperatures. Inclusion of lower mashing‐in temperature in the mashing programme also substantially improved the concentrations of free amino nitrogen (128 mg L^?1) and fermentable sugar (58 g L^?1) in the final wort. Therefore, 30‐min rest at 40 °C followed by 60‐min rest at 71 °C and 10‐min rest at 78 °C was found to be a suitable mashing programme for teff malt.     

A NEW LABORATORY MASHING SYSTEM

New mashing equipment for determining the laboratory extract of malt is described. Its applications, and the reasons why this type of system should be considered for adoption by the industry, are discussed. A new procedure for obtaining the Institute of Brewing Hot Water Extract value permits a greater throughput of samples with improved accuracy.     

RAPID SMALL-SCALE DETERMINATION OF MALT EXTRACT IN BARLEY BREEDING

A simple procedure for the determination of malt extract requiring only 0·5 g of malt is described. A constant volume of hot water is added and the mash is centrifuged rather than filtered. The extract is then estimated directly from a refractometer reading. The relationship between refractometer reading and wort solids was linear and was not found to vary with barley variety or grain nitrogen. The effect of varying the grist/mash ratio was investigated. The method had similar precision to other methods, but was more rapid, making it useful in barley breeding.     

Malt characteristics of sorghum vulgare varieties from ghana

Two local varieties, a white type and a red type, of Sorghum vulgare cultivated in Ghana were malted, using a micro-malting method, and their malt characteristics studied and compared to that of a commercial barley malt. The optimal germination time, at 30°C, to produce a good malt of high diastatic power and extract from local varieties of these varieties was 4-5 days. The local varieties were also found to have high diastatic activities of between 55 and 68% of the commercial barley malt. Hot-water extracts of the well malted sorghum varieties were also found to have higher and sustainable amounts of free amino nitrogen than the commercial malt. The hot-water extracts of sorghum malts were lower than the commercial barley malt, yielding about 66-77% of the barley malt, but contained a higher glucose to malt ratio. In terms of varietal superiority, the white sorghum yielded higher malt extracts than the red type.     

EXTRACTION AND ASSAY OF PROTEOLYTIC ACTIVITIES IN SORGHUM MALT

A method has been developed to assay the proteinase and carboxypeptidase activities in sorghum malt. The method specifically addresses two problems encountered with some other assays for malt proteolytic activity; that of enzyme inextractability and the use of alien substrates. It was found that as with barley malt proteolytic enzymes, a high proportion of sorghum malt proteolytic activity was inextractable with sodium chloride solution. Systematic investigation into the extraction of proteolytic enzymes from sorghum malt led to the development of a novel extractant viz. 0.6 M Lithium iodide LiI plus 3.33 mM dithiothreitol. This extractant appears to solubilize a significantly higher proportion of the malt proteolytic activities with a single extraction than previously used buffers. Assay is carried out Using purified Kafirin, the sorghum prolamin storage protein, as substrate. Proteinase is measured in terms of total nitrogen solubilized and carboxypeptidase as free α-amino nitrogen solubilized.     

MALT ANALYSIS—CALCULATIONS AND CONVERSION FACTORS

Appropriate factors for calculating values of Hot Water Extract, total soluble nitrogen, free amino nitrogen and colour are given for use in the Institute of Brewing (IOB) Hot Water Extract analysis where the mash is made up to weight (450 g). In addition factors are given for converting values of total soluble nitrogen, viscosity and colour obtained using a mash made up to weight, to the appropriate values that would have been obtained had a 515 ml mash been employed.     

PROMOTING SORGHUM RESERVE PROTEIN MOBILISATION BY STEEPING IN ALKALINE LIQUOR

Mobilisation of sorghum storage reserve proteins by steeping in alkaline liquor for 48 h under four different regimes was evaluated. Germination was for 4 days at 30°C. Cold water soluble protein (CWS-protein), CWS-protein modification index, total non protein nitrogen (TNPN), peptide accumulation, FAN, endo- and exo-protease activities—all key indicators of protein mobilisation were highly significantly affected by steep regime, steep liquor and cultivar as well as their pairwise interactions. Mean FAN and TNPN were significantly higher (P < 0.0005) for malts derived from alkaline steep liquor except for KSV 8 which exhibited significant inhibition of TNPN development. Similarly, alkaline steeping promoted protein solubilisation and CWS-protein modification. While parallel improvements in amylolysis and proteolysis were recorded for ICSV 400, proteolysis in KSV 8 and SK 5912 seemed more enhanced except for SK 5912 exposed to air rest cycles. Steeping in alkaline liquor also caused significant repression of the proteases in KSV 8. Conversely, steeping SK 5912 under similar conditions promoted rather than inhibited development of these enzymes. Poor correlation between protein degradation products and enzyme development suggest major roles for factors other than proteolysis in sorghum reserve protein mobilisation.     

DETERMINATION OF HOT WATER EXTRACT

The Analysis Committee of the European Brewery Convention has recommended that the Hot Water Extract procedure for malt, which relies on a coarse grind and single temperature mash (65°C), is included in Analytica-EBC, as an additional method to that of the EBC Extract procedure. The Committee accepted the precision values obtained by the Institute of Brewing on the 1984 Check Malt. Repeatability (r₉₅) and reproducibility (R₉₅) values in litre degrees/kg were 2.14 and 3.48 respectively, for mean value of 295.3 at a Miag 0.7 mm setting, and 1.93 and 2.90 respectively, for a mean value of 298.2 at a Miag 0.2 mm setting.     

酵母浸出物对屎肠球菌活菌数的影响

屎肠球菌(Enterococcus faecium)发酵饲料中的活菌数是保证其功能特性的关键因素,为了提高屎肠球菌发酵过程中的活菌总数,本研究以屎肠球菌为试验菌株,选用4种不同特性的酵母浸出物来考察其对屎肠球菌活菌数的影响。通过单因素试验,确定以酵母浸出物为唯一氮源培养屎肠球菌的活菌数,根据酵母浸出物检测指标找出影响屎肠球菌活菌的关键因子。试验结果表明,培养基中主要提供生长因子和微量元素的酵母浸出物对屎肠球菌的活性有明显的影响,其中游离核苷酸的含量是影响屎肠球菌发酵活菌数重要因子,通过外源添加一定量的游离核苷酸,厌氧培养12 h,获得的最终活菌数为176×10~8 CFU/m L,与未添加游离核苷酸相比,活菌数提高了将近40%。结果显示,在培养基中添加一定量的游离核苷酸可提高屎肠球菌在发酵液中活菌数量,为工业化生产高活菌数的饲用屎肠球菌提供参考和借鉴。