DETERMINATION OF TOTAL β-GLUCAN IN MALT

An enzymic method for the estimation of total β-glucan in barley has been modified to make it suitable for determination of the small amounts of β-glucan present in malt. Interference from the high levels of reducing sugars in malt has been eliminated by reducing the free sugars in the sample with sodium borohydride rather than extracting them using 80% (v/v) ethanol. The reduction procedure also inactivates endogenous carbohydrate hydrolases in the sample. Because it is no longer necessary to extract the samples with ethanol and centrifuge repeatedly, the modified method is also advantageous in the analysis of barley β-glucan. Errors associated with extraction are eliminated and the speed of analysis of large batches is greatly increased.