Non-starch polysaccharides in beer and brewing: A review of their occurrence and significance

Reid, Joshua E. S. J.; Yakubov, Gleb E.; Lawrence, Stephen J.

Abstract

It has become apparent that beer (both alcoholic and nonalcoholic) contains appreciable amounts of non-starch polysaccharides, a broad subgroup of dietary fiber. It is worth noting that the occurrence of non-starch polysaccharides in alcoholic beer does not imply this should be consumed as a source of nutrition. But the popularity of nonalcoholic beer is growing, and the lessons learnt from non-starch polysaccharides in brewing can be largely translated to nonalcoholic beer. For context, we briefly review the origins of dietary fiber, its importance within the human diet and the significance of water-soluble dietary fiber in beverages. We review the relationship between non-starch polysaccharides and brewing, giving focus to the techniques used to quantify non-starch polysaccharides in beer, how they affect the physicochemical properties of beer and their influence on the brewing process. The content of non-starch polysaccharides in both regular and low/nonalcoholic beer ranges between 0.5 − 4.0 g/L and are predominantly composed of arabinoxylans and β-glucans. The process of malting, wort production and filtration significantly affect the soluble non-starch polysaccharide content in the final beer. Beer viscosity and turbidity are strongly associated with the content of non-starch polysaccharides.

Citation

Reid, J. E. S. J., Yakubov, G. E., & Lawrence, S. J. (2024). Non-starch polysaccharides in beer and brewing: A review of their occurrence and significance. Critical Reviews in Food Science and Nutrition, 64, 837-851. https://doi.org/10.1080/10408398.2022.2109585

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Aug 25, 2022
• Online Publication Date: Aug 25, 2022
• Publication Date: 2024
• Deposit Date: Apr 15, 2023
• Publicly Available Date: Apr 17, 2023
• Journal: Critical Reviews in Food Science and Nutrition
• Print ISSN: 1040-8398
• Electronic ISSN: 1549-7852
• Publisher: Taylor and Francis
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 64
• Pages: 837-851
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/10408398.2022.2109585
• Keywords: Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering, General Medicine, Food Science
• Public URL: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/10907171
• Publisher URL: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/10408398.2022.2109585
• Additional Information: This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons attribution-nonCommercial-noderivatives license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/), which permits non-commercial re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited, and is not altered, transformed, or built upon in any way.