Abstract: | The extraction of nitrogenous material from Brewers' spent grain (BSG) by solvents (water, sodium chloride solution, aqueous alcohol, acidic and alkaline solutions) commonly used to extract cereal proteins, resulted in the relatively low (0·2 to 8·5%) recovery of the total nitrogen. The recovery of nitrogenous material by the use of aqueous alkaline solutions was increased from 3–4% to 41% when the BSG was subjected to cellulase incubation prior to extraction. Approximately 75% of the nitrogen was solubilized with trifluoracetic acid. Detergent solutions (acid, neutral) solubilized more than 80% of the total nitrogen of the BSG. The low solubility of the nitrogenous constituents by conventional protein solvents could be the result of association between cellulosic material and protein. |