Reassessing the importance of barley starch and amylolytic enzyme properties in malting and brewing.

Efficient conversion of starch to fermentable sugars and dextrins is essential during brewing as it drives process efficiency, resource efficiency, and the quality of the end product. Recent changes in barley growth conditions due to climate change challenge brewers in maintaining these essential aspects of the brewing process. The main component of barley, starch, is also undergoing changes, which can lead to detrimental effects on the brewing process.

Environment found to explain the largest variance in physical and compositional traits in malting barley grain.

Background: Starch is the most abundant constituent (dry weight) in the barley endosperm, followed by protein. Variability of compositional and potentially related physical traits due to genotype and environment can have important implications for the malting and brewing industry. This was the first study to assess the effects of genotype, environment, and their interaction (G × E) on endosperm texture, protein content, and starch traits corresponding to granule size, gelatinization, content, and composition, using a multi-environment variety trial in California, USA.

Different gelatinization characteristics of small and large barley starch granules impact their enzymatic hydrolysis and sugar production during mashing.

This study investigates the impact of different gelatinization characteristics of small and large barley starch granules on their enzymatic hydrolysis and sugar production during mashing. Therefore, a barley malt suspension was consecutively incubated at 45, 62, 72 and 78 °C to monitor starch behavior and enzymatic starch hydrolysis and sugar production. The combination of microscopic and rapid visco analyses showed that small starch granules persisted longer in the system and were present non-gelatinized at temperatures higher than 62 °C.