IMPACT OF POLYSACCHARIDES OF MALT ON FILTERABILITY OF BEER AND POSSIBILITIES FOR THEIR REDUCTION BY ENZYMATIC ADDITIVES.

Beta-glucans are principal constituents of barley endosperm cell walls. They are linear high-molecular polysaccharides, which tend to increase the solutions viscosity by forming gels. As β-glucans influence wort and beer viscosities, as well as beer quality, they are ones of the most studied wort and beer components. This study is aimed at production of wort from malt at different degree of cytolytic modification and estimation of the effect of exogenous β-glucanases addition during wort fermentation. β-Glucans content in poorly- and well- modified malt was 1000 mg L-1 and 384 mg L-1, respectively. The addition of enzymatic preparation with β-glucanases activity during the fermentation of wort, obtained from poorly modified malt, resulted in decreasing of beer viscosity by 5 - 40 % (depending on exogenous enzyme concentration: 1 and 2 BGU/L Finizym® 200 L) and decreasing of β-glucan content by more than 90 %. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]