LIPIDS OF BARLEY, MALT AND ADJUNCTS

Alcohol-free and low-alcohol beers: Aroma chemistry and sensory characteristics

Alcohol-free beers have gained popularity in the last few decades because they provide a healthier alternative to alcoholic beers and can be more widely consumed. Consumers are becoming more aware of the benefits of reducing their alcohol consumption, and this has increased the sales of nonalcoholic alternatives. However, there are still many challenges for the brewing industry to produce an alcohol-free beer that resembles the pleasant fruity flavor and overall sensory experience of regular beers. The aim of this review is to give a comprehensive overview of alcohol-free beer focusing on aroma chemistry. The formation of the most important aroma compounds, such as Strecker aldehydes, higher alcohols, and esters, is reviewed, aiming to outline the gaps in current knowledge. The role of ethanol as a direct and indirect flavor-active compound is examined separately. In parallel, the influence of the most common methods to reduce alcohol content, such as physical (dealcoholization) or biological, on the organoleptic characteristics and consumer perception of the final product, is discussed.

Barley in the Production of Cereal-Based Products

Barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) is unjustly neglected today as a food grain. Interest in the use of barley in the food industry has increased recently. The reason for this is its content of dietary fibre, especially β-glucan, which has been shown to reduce blood cholesterol and lower blood sugar levels. The main nutritional components of barley and barley products, besides the mentioned β-glucan, are starch, sugar, proteins, fat and ash. Although not common in the production of bakery products, barley can be very easily involved in the production of the same products, and such products have improved nutritional characteristics and acceptable sensory characteristics, which make them desirable. Barley has great potential for use in a wide range of cereal-based foods as a partial or full replacement for currently used grains (such as wheat, oats, rice and corn). This article provides basic and general information about the use of barley in food and the processing of barley grains for use in the manufacturing of cereal-based products, with particular attention to the use of barley in the manufacturing of bread (flatbread and leavened bread), noodles and pasta, muffins and cakes and cookies and biscuits.

New value from food and industrial wastes - Bioaccumulation of omega-3 fatty acids from an oleaginous microbial biomass paired with a brewery by-product using black soldier fly (Hermetia illucens) larvae

Research on bioconversion based on insects is intensifying as it addresses the problem of reducing and reusing food and industrial waste. To reach this goal, we need to find more means of pairing waste to insects. With this goal, brewers' spent grains (BSG) - a food waste of the brewing industry - paired with the oleaginous biomass of the thraustochytrid Schizochytrium limacinum cultivated on crude glycerol - a major waste of biodiesel production - were successfully used to grow Hermetia illucens larvae. Combining BSG and S. limacinum in the diet in an attempt to design the lipid profile of H. illucens larvae to contain a higher percentage of omega-3 fatty acids is novel. Insect larvae were grown on three different substrates: i) standard diet for Diptera (SD), ii) BSG, and iii) BSG + 10% S. limacinum biomass. The larvae and substrates were analyzed for fatty acid composition and larval growth was measured until 25% of insects reached the prepupal stage. Our data showed that including omega-3-rich S. limacinum biomass in the BSG substrate promoted an increase in larval weight compared to larvae fed on SD or BSG substrates. Furthermore, it was possible, albeit in a limited way, to incorporate omega-3 fatty acids, principally docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) from BSG + S. limacinum substrate containing 20% of DHA into the larval fat (7% DHA). However, H. illucens with this level of DHA may not be suitable if the aim is to get larvae with high omega-3 lipids to feed carnivorous fish.

Total, Neutral, and Polar Lipids of Brewing Ingredients, By-Products and Beer: Evaluation of Antithrombotic Activities

The in vitro antithrombotic properties of polar lipid constituents of malted grain (MG), pelleted hops (PH), brewer’s spent grain (BSG), spent hops (SH), wort, and bottled beer from the same production line were assessed in human platelets. The total lipids (TL) were extracted according to the Bligh and Dyer method and further separated into the total neutral lipids (TNL) and total polar lipids (TPL) extracts by counter-current distribution. The TL, TNL, and TPL extracts of all samples were assessed for their ability to inhibit platelet-activating factor (PAF) and thrombin-induced human platelet aggregation. The raw materials, by-products, wort, and beer lipid extracts all exhibited antithrombotic properties against PAF and thrombin. However, the beer TPL exhibited the lowest IC₅₀ values against PAF-induced (7.8 ± 3.9 µg) and thrombin-induced (4.3 ± 3.0 µg) platelet aggregation indicating that these polar lipids were the most antithrombotic. The lipid extracts tended to be more bioactive against the thrombin pathway. The fatty acid content of all the TPL extracts were assessed using GC-MS. The fatty acid composition of the most bioactive TPL extracts, the wort and the beer, shared similar fatty acid profiles. Indeed, it was noted that fermentation seems to play a role in increasing the antithrombotic properties of polar lipids against PAF and thrombin by moderately altering the polar lipid fatty acid composition. Furthermore, the use of brewing by-products as a source of functional cardioprotective lipids warrants further investigation and valorisation.

Distinct developmental defense activations in barley embryos identified by transcriptome profiling

Proper embryo development is crucial for normal growth and development of barley. Numerous related aspects of this process--for example how the embryo establishes and sustains disease resistance for extended periods during dormancy--remain largely unknown. Here we report the results of microarray analyses of >22,000 genes, which together with measurements of jasmonic acid and salicylic acid during embryo development provide new information on the initiation in the developing barley embryo of at least two distinct types of developmental defense activation (DDA). Early DDA is characterized by the up-regulation of a specific set of genes around 20 days after flowering, including co-regulation of those for encoding 9-lipoxygenase and several oxylipin-generating enzymes, possibly leading to the formation of alpha-ketols. The same developmental phase includes an up-regulation of several defense genes, and indications of co-regulation of those for enzymes involved in the generation of phenylpropanoid phytoalexins. Late DDA is initiated prior to grain desiccation, around 37 days after flowering, with up-regulation of several genes encoding proteins with roles in antioxidant responses as well as a simultaneous up-regulation of several PR genes is notable. Throughout barley embryo development, there are no indications of an increased biosynthesis of either jasmonic acid or salicylic acid. Collectively, the results help explain how the proposed DDA enables protection of the developing barley embryo and grain for purposes of disease resistance.

Dual positional and stereospecificity of lipoxygenase isoenzymes from germinating barley (green malt): biotransformation of free and esterified linoleic acid

The lipoxygenase isoenzymes LOX1 and LOX2 from green malt were separated by isoelectric focusing, and their catalytic properties regarding complex lipids as substrates were characterized. The regio- and stereoisomers of hydroperoxy octadecadienoates (HPODE) resulting from LOX1 and LOX2 enzymatic transformations of linoleic acid, methyl linoleate, linoleic acid glycerol esters monolinolein, dilinolein, and trilinolein, and 1-palmitoyl-2-linoleoyl-glycero-3-phosphocholine (PamLinGroPCho) were determined. In addition, biotransformations of polar and nonpolar lipids extracted from malt were performed with LOX1 and LOX2. The results show that LOX2 catalyzes the oxidation of esterified fatty acids at a higher rate and is more regioselective than LOX1. The dual position specificity of LOX2 (9-HPODE:13-HPODE) with trilinolein as the substrate (6:94) was higher than the resultant ratio (13:87) when free linoleic acid was transformed. A high (S)-enantiomeric excess of 13-HPODE was analyzed with all esterified substrates confirming the formation of 13-HPODE through the LOX2 enzyme; however, 9-HPODE detected after LOX2 biotransformations showed (R)-enantiomeric excesses. PamLinGroPCho was oxygenated by LOX1 with the highest regio- and stereoselectivities among the applied substrates.

Lipoxygenase-2 oxygenates storage lipids in embryos of germinating barley

Besides the pre-existing lipoxygenase (LOX-1) present in quiescent grains, a new lipoxygenase (LOX-2) is induced in embryos of germinating barley [Holtman, W. L., Van Duijn, G., Sedee, N. J. A. & Douma, A. C. (1996) Plant Physiol. 111, 569-576]. The fact that LOX-1 and LOX-2 form different products after incubation with linoleic acid, the (9S)- and (13S)-hydroperoxides, respectively [Van Aarle, P. G. M., De Barse, M. M. J., Veldink, G. A. & Vliegenthart, J. F. G. (1991) FEBS Lett. 280, 159-162; Doderer, A., Kokkelink, I., Van der Veen, S., Valk, B. E., Schram, A. W. & Douma, A. C. (1992) Biochim. Biophys. Acta 1120, 97-104], and differ in temporal expression, suggests different physiological functions for the two isoenzymes at the onset of germination. We aimed to obtain more information about these functions by studying the substrate and product specificities of both isoenzymes. Analyses of the products formed from linoleic acid confirmed that LOX-1 oxygenated at C9, and LOX-2 at C13. When testing more complex substrates, it was found that both LOX-1 and LOX-2 were capable of metabolizing esterified fatty acids. Km values from both isoenzymes for free fatty acids were much lower than for esterified fatty acids (7-35-fold for LOX-1 versus 2-8-fold for LOX-2). Interestingly, LOX-1 showed significantly higher Km values for esterified fatty acids than did LOX-2. This was reflected by analyses of the products formed from di- and tri-linoleoylglycerol; LOX-2 formed higher amounts of oxygenated polyunsaturated fatty acids within the esterified lipids than did LOX-1, with a corresponding larger extent of oxygenation. In order to identify potential endogenous substrates, we analyzed free and esterified lipids in total lipid extracts from barley after different periods of germination for LOX-derived products. The results indicated that esterified fatty acids were preferentially metabolized by LOX-2 activity. Analysis of the positional specificity within the lipids after alkaline hydrolysis revealed that only (13S)-hydroxy derivatives were formed, indicating the in vivo action of LOX-2. These data show that LOX-2 is capable of oxygenating storage lipids and suggest that during the onset of germination LOX-2 may be involved in oxygenation of esterified polyunsaturated fatty acids in barley seeds. We suggest that the oxygenation of these lipids precedes the onset of their catabolism and that the degradation product, (9Z,11E,13S)-13-hydroxy-octadecadienoic acid, serves as an endogenous substrate for beta-oxidation and therefore as a carbon source for the growing barley embryo.

The effect of thermal processing and enzyme treatments of soybean meal on growth performance, ileal nutrient digestibilities, and chyme characteristics in broiler chicks

Effects of thermal processing (toasting or extrusion) of untoasted soybean meal on growth performance, apparent ileal nutrient digestibilities, and chyme characteristics were studied in broiler chicks fed diets with soybean meal as the main protein source. Effects of increasing shear forces during extrusion as well as enzyme treatments (protease and carbohydrase) were also studied. When compared with toasting, extrusion significantly improved feed conversion ratio (1.56 vs 1.62) and apparent ileal digestibilities of CP and nonstarch polysaccharides (87.5 vs 82.2% and 26.7 vs 11.4%, respectively). Enzyme treatment improved apparent ileal digestibility of CP and nonstarch polysaccharide compared with no enzyme treatment (85.2 vs 83.7% and 20.6 vs 14.5%, respectively); however, enzyme treatments did not result in a better growth performance of the chicks. Among the enzyme treatments, no differences were found in growth performance and apparent ileal CP digestibility, whereas the carbohydrase significantly improved apparent ileal nonstarch polysaccharide digestibility compared with the other enzyme treatments. Extrusion of SBM at the highest shear level caused a significant increase in the water-holding capacity, chyme viscosity, and concentration of soluble nonstarch polysaccharides in the chyme compared with extrusion of SBM at lower shear levels. The increase in chyme viscosity did not affect growth performance, nor did it influence apparent ileal nutrient digestibilities.

Purification and characterization of two lipoxygenase isoenzymes from germinating barley

Two lipoxygenase isoenzymes (linoleate: oxygen oxidoreductase, EC 1.13.11.12) present in the embryo of germinating barley seed have been purified to homogeneity and characterized. Both isoenzymes are monomeric proteins with a molecular mass of approx. 90 kDa and crossreact on Western blots with antibodies raised against pea lipoxygenase. They have an apparent Km of approx. 16 microM for linoleic acid. The isoenzymes differ in the product formed upon incubation with linoleic acid. One of the isoenzymes (lipoxygenase 1) solely forms the 9-HPOD as a product whereas the 13-HPOD is the major product formed by the other isoenzyme (lipoxygenase 2). Lipoxygenase 1 shows a pH-optimum of 6.5, is active in a broad pH range and has an isoelectric point of 5.2-5.3. Lipoxygenase 2 has the same pH optimum, but is active in a narrow pH range and has a significantly higher pI, namely 6.8-6.9. The occurrence of two isoenzymes was confirmed by peptide analysis of the proteins. Amino acid sequence data obtained from proteolytic fragments of lipoxygenase 1 show up to 50% identity with other plant lipoxygenases.