MX2011013941A - Amaranth beer and process for the manufacture thereof. - Google Patents

Abstract

Described is a process for the manufacture of beer using amaranth as adjunct, where the amaranth is treated so as to be burst. The amaranth is used up to the 100% of the total mass to be fermented.

Description

"BEER OF AMARANTO AND PROCESS OF ELABORATION " FIELD OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to the techniques used in the manufacture of alcoholic beverages, especially beer, and more particularly relates to an amaranth beer as well as the process for its preparation.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The process for the production of beer is well known and widely documented. Traditionally the beer production process uses malt as the source of starch or sugars. Likewise, other grains and materials have also been used as sources of starch, called "adjuncts", among which are sucrose, corn flours, rice, millet, wheat, oats and sorghum, using up to 50% by weight (w / w) in relation to malt.

At this point, one of the cereals that has been explored as an adjunct in brewing is amaranth, as mentioned in the Russian patent document RU 2 211 243, which mentions incorporating amaranth without malting process (grains in gemination process) in an amount of 60% (w / w) in total relation to the mass, this document mentions the use of an external source of enzymes in order to optimize the extraction process in saccharification.

As noted, this process uses amaranth seed in its natural state, and more particularly describes the process for the preparation of must by maceration from a mixture containing malt, raw material not malted, water and enzymes. This non-malted raw material is the amaranth seed without a previous treatment (natural state) that is used in the total mixture and up to 60% by weight, where the amaranth is ground before its addition in the maceration.

A disadvantage with respect to the use of amaranth as it is used in said document '243, and for which it is ground, is the size of the natural amaranth seed itself which is too small (from 1.1 to 1.4 mm long by 1.0 to 1.3 mm wide) and a weight (0.5 to 0.93 g / seed), although this patent mentions that the amaranth is ground, the nutrients are found inside the seed.

What we want to mention is that the small size of the amaranth seed makes it difficult to handle it in any process (malting, grinding, etc.), making production costs more expensive.

But on the other hand, if you think about a process of germination (malting), the reserves of the carbohydrates of the seed (starch) are depleted and a part of the protein is used as a respiratory substrate. The protein content is also decreased due to the proteolytic activity of some enzymes. The content of folic acid decreases, as well as the albumins, globulins and prolamines. During germination there is a decrease in the caloric content of the seeds. Likewise, germination tends to decrease the carbohydrate mass of the seeds, which decreases the yield of the process due to the fact that more quantities must be used to compensate for this reduction, the cost of the malted seed and the time spent in carrying out this transformation. , has a significant impact on the production cost and increases the processing time.

In addition, germination in amaranth seeds can cause changes in the organoleptic properties such as developing bitter taste, does not increase the protein value of the amaranth grain, nor its biological use, on the contrary diminishes them.

A process of germination (malting) involves stages of the process such as soaking (12 h approx.), Germination that takes from 24 to 48 h at 36 ° C and, finally, the malting carried at 60 ° C, 75 ° C and 95 ° C for 1 hour each erature; with this process the gelatinization energy that is reached is 2.67 to 3.87 J / kg higher than other processes. This implies using larger amounts of fossil fuels or electric power to be able to use them in the mash stage, increasing production costs.

At this point, it is important to mention that the chemical composition of the amaranth seed is remarkable due to the quality and content of proteins (13 to 17%), rich in sulfur amino acids (2.6 to 5.5%) and lysine (3.2 to 6.4%) known as: essential, on the contrary, the proteins of common cereals are deficient in these amino acids. Regarding the quality of the protein, it has a chemical amino acid score (CQA) of 75, which compared to 54 for corn, 60 for wheat, 68 for soybeans and 73 for milk reflects that it is very acceptable and of good quality.

In addition the amaranth seed contains fats, fiber, minerals and carbohydrates. The carbohydrates that they contain are: sucrose, raffinose, statin and starch. The starch molecule is the main reserve in carbohydrates and is in an amount of 50% to 70%. From the enzymatic hydrolysis of the starch it has been possible to obtain a fraction of soluble carbohydrates and high protein content. The amaranth grain also contains enzymes such as: nvertasa, amylase, galactosidase and phytase and vitamins such as thiamin, riboflavin, niacin and vitamin C. On the other hand, the digestibility of the amaranth protein fluctuates between 79.2 and 88.5% and the content caloric is 390 calories In relation to the above, amaranth starch granules have a size between 1-3 μ? T ?, which consist of two different glucose polymers, called amylose and amyl pectin, compared with granules of other starches found as corn ( 5 to 20 μ? T ?.) and rice (3 to 8 μ ??).

Now, an option to manipulate the amaranth in food applications such as the production of sweets, has been subjected to heat treatment to expand the seed, achieving increases in the size of the seed (300 times more), facilitating the grinding process and exposing the starch molecule to hydration and catalytic activity by the enzymes due to the larger contact surface per unit weight. This property added to the presence of amylopectin and its morphological conformation give it unique functional characteristics, which has allowed its application in the food industry, in fat substitutes and in other areas such as paper, plastic, biofilms and pharmaceutical. Given the characteristics of the amaranth grain, it has been suggested that the flour could be incorporated into the formulation of low-cost and high nutritional value infant food, in instant soups, sauces and spaghetti. However, there are few works carried out on the application or use of amaranth starch.

Moreover there is no indication of how to use amaranth in brewing beer or other alcoholic beverages, where it would be thought to incorporate it as an adjunct in a natural state or through a malting process.

At this point it is very important to mention that in many other processes for brewing beer, the starch must be pre-gelatinized. It is important to perform this pre-gelatinization so that the enzymes present in the saccharification stage can perform their catalytic functions on the starch molecule efficiently. For this reason, an alternate stage of preparation of adjuncts is customary, where the starch coming from an adjunct is mixed with water and heated until reaching the hydration of the molecule and later its total gelatinization.

In case the starch has not previously been pre-gelatinized or the gelatinization energy has not been significantly decreased, it has greater implications for the increase in energy consumption, since the temperatures handled are around 70 to 90 ° C and the energy needed to reach these temperatures must be transmitted not only the adjunct but also the total mixture, which, mostly (70%), is composed of water. And to have a total gelatinization requires more processing time, therefore production costs are increased.

Now, it is known that beer contains gluten which is a glycoprotein that in some people suffering from celiac disease can lead to severe symptoms with this disease. More particularly, celiacs can not eat gluten because their immune system responds by damaging or destroying the villi. These villi line the small intestine and allow absorption of nutrients from the walls of the small intestine into the bloodstream. The intake of gluten-containing foods from patients with celiac disease causes complications in the digestive system or other parts of the body (abdominal pain, chronic diarrhea, constipation, vomiting, iron deficiency, anemia, fatigue and cancer). The gluten found in many cereals among these cereals is wheat, rye and barley. That is why, in the beginning, celiacs can not drink beer and enjoy the refreshing drink if it is made with malt of barley and wheat.

Likewise, we could cite the international patent application published under number WO 2007/102850 focused on providing a drink for people with celiac disease, so the alternative is to use cereals and grains that do not contain this molecule. For this, this document mentions the use of high maltose syrups obtained from rice or sorghum and other cereals. More particularly, to obtain a gluten-free or gluten-free beer, maltose syrups from rice and sorghum that were obtained enzymatically are used. Although this document mentions the use of amaranth because it does not contain gluten, everything indicates that the syrup of this seed would be obtained in the same way as sorghum or rice, that is by means of an enzymatic reaction, which would increase the cost of the process instead of using the seed in its natural state.

Another document that mentions the possibility of using amaranth in the manufacture of beer, is the German document DE 10 2005 020639, which mentions the use of gluten-free cereals such as amaranth, however, in this process said cereals are malted. Regarding this point, those skilled in the art know that a malting process is technically complex and economically costly since it requires infrastructure in terms of equipment, personnel and time of process, in this way the malting of a second grain is an option that it involves a certain degree of complexity.

From the foregoing, it can be seen that to date no processes have been developed for the production of amaranth-based beers that allow a low gluten content, where in the manufacturing process it makes efficient use of the carbon source of this seed, decrease the number of stages and the energy applied in the process. Previous art in this field has mentioned the use of the seed in its natural state in or a malting process as it is done with most of the seeds that are used in the art for brewing, however, this causes one part a low yield or another have to control a second germination process.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION In order to solve the problems of the current technique, a process has been developed where it has been found that heat-treated amaranth seed can be incorporated into the brewing process either as an adjunct or as the source of starch.

More particularly, the brewing process comprises a stage where the amaranth seed is heat treated in order to burst it; subsequently the burst amaranth seed is mixed with conditioned water and with i) barley malt or ii) exogenous enzymes, where said exogenous enzymes are preferably a complex of glucoamylases and more particularly a complex of (α-amylase and β-glucanase ) in order to produce must.

The must obtained either with the mixture of barley malt and amaranth or exogenous enzymes and amaranth is saccharified and then magnified, to leave the lupada mixture to ferment until beer is obtained.

The heat treatment of the amaranth is carried out either by contacting the seeds with a hot surface "expansion", cooking in water, subjecting them in an electric oven or by means of microwaves.

In one embodiment of the invention, when the burst amaranth is mixed with process water and barley malt, up to 50% is used with respect to the total mixture, which is heated to a temperature of up to 75 ° C to facilitate the homogenization and hydration of starch, then the mixture is cooled to a temperature of at least 45 to 55 ° C to start the saccharification stage.

It also deals with 5 to 10% of milled barley malt with respect to the amount of amaranth, adding it in the amaranth conditioning stage with process water, in which the burst starch is hydrated (the amaranth mixture is made with process water and heated up to 75 ° C), this is done to provide a source of enzymes such as ay ß amylases which help to reduce the viscosity of the mixture (due to the fact that they split the bonds of the starch) facilitating the process of mixing and homogenization.

In another embodiment of the invention, when using exogenous enzymes, an enzyme complex formed by the protease enzymes, α-amylase and β-glucanase, is added to the mixture of amaranth and water, using up to 100% by weight of amaranth in the mixture. total. As regards the saccharification stage, it can take place at a temperature of up to 80 ° C.

In another aspect of the invention a low or gluten-free beer is obtained which is obtained by the process described above BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES The novel aspects that are considered characteristic of the present invention will be established with particularity in the appended claims. However, the same invention in conjunction with other objects and advantages thereof, will be better understood in the following detailed description of certain preferred embodiments of the invention, when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure 1 shows the process for obtaining a low-gluten beer where heat-burnt amaranth seed is used, barley malt according to a first example of the present invention.

Figure 2 shows the gluten-free beer brewing process from thermally burst amaranth seeds, using exogenous enzymes for the proteolysis and saccharification stage with the second example of the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The brewing process in which the burnt amaranth seed is used as an adjunct is the following: On the one hand, the barley malt is conditioned by well-known methods of the art, while the amaranth is heat treated for the efficient and more economical use of its carbon source .: For the heat treatment of the amaranth, it is subjected to a hot surface for a sufficient time until the grain bursts, that is, the interior of the seed is exposed to the outside. Other methods of heat treatment to achieve this purpose are: cooking in water, passage through hot air, injection of high pressure steam, electric oven and microwave In this sense the expansion of the amaranth by heat treatment increases the size of the seed (300 times its size approximately), favoring or maximizing the yields in the process of the present invention, In addition, the nutritional properties are enhanced when the amaranth seed is subjected to heat treatment. The controlled heat treatment involves changes in texture, color, taste and especially nutritional quality. The nutritional value is increased due to the fact that it inactivates anti-physiological factors (decreases the generation of flatulence), in addition increases the availability of amino acids (digestibility). Overheating has an adverse effect by decreasing the nutritional value due to the destruction and loss of availability of essential amino acids, especially cystine and lysine.

In this sense it has been found that the trapping of the amaranth grain decreases the enthalpy of gelatinization ?? in 30 to 40% in addition to not decrease the carbohydrate content 619.9 g / kg compared to the germination of the grain which reduces by 25 to 30% favoring the optimization of the process in subsequent stages for extraction performance and energy saving. However, this would not happen if the seed were subjected to a germination process or used in its natural state.

At this point it is convenient to indicate that the expansion in hot surface is carried in much shorter time, for example, if an amount of 300 g is exposed from 20 to 30 sec at a temperature of 180 to 200 ° C, and thus the seeds have a significantly lower gelatinization energy (0.13 to 0.21 J / g) The number of pre-conditioning stages of the seed has implications of the type of processing and ultimately impact on costs.

To use both malt and thermally burst amaranth, process water must be conditioned by incorporating micronutrients, ie, salts of Mg, Ca, Zn, Na, adjusting the pH of the water between 5 to 5.5 units.

When it is desired to use barley malt and burnt amaranth, the barley malt is incorporated into the process water in an amount that is determined according to the formulation desired. The temperature of the amaranth mixture, barley malt and process water is elevated approximately 75 ° C, more preferably 70 to 75 ° C to favor homogenization and reduce the viscosity of it is maintained for a time interval, preferably from 3 to 5 min.

As mentioned, the heat-treated amaranth is conditioned as follows: a mass of burst amaranth is mixed with a certain amount of process water, the temperature of the mixture is preferably raised up to 75 ° C or preferably up to 70 ° C this stage allows the starch of the amaranth to be hydrated quickly, and the mixture is homogenized with the addition of barley malt containing enzymes, its reaction decreases the viscosity of the mixture facilitating its manipulation and in turn decreases energy costs with mixing and heating; then the temperature of the mixture is decreased to at least 45 ° or more preferably to at least 55 ° C. At this point, the rest of other ingredients known as "gritz" are added, which are mostly made of barley malt and the saccharification is started to make the must.

The low gluten beer is a mixture of two cereals, which contribute together the starch, proteins and amino acids, in the case of barley malt this is used to provide the enzymes (α-amylase, β-amylase) which perform The splitting of the macromolecule towards lower molecular weight sugars such as maltose, trisodium maltose, glucose, amylopectin, pectin and dextrins, is considered a low-gluten beer compared to a beer manufactured from 100 barley malt, which are the unique that are available in the national market In the conditioning stage of the amaranth malt of ground barley is used, this is added 5 to 10% in relation to the amount of amaranth used to provide enzymes such as α-amylase and β-amylase which begin the hydrolysis of the starch reducing the viscosity of the mixture which facilitates its handling, once the cooling temperature of at least 45 or preferably 55 ° C has been reached, the mixture is allowed to stand for a period of time of up to 20 to 30 minutes. Then the rest of the gritz that make up the formulation are added. This is incorporated into the macerator together with the amaranth for its saccharification, which takes place at a temperature of up to 70 ° C or preferably up to 65 ° C for a period of up to 55 min, after which a filtration step is preferably carried out to eliminate the thick ones.

Subsequently, the free-thick sample was heated reaching a temperature of between 85 to 95 ° C, which is maintained for a period of up to 45 to 50 minutes, when the must is finished, a coagulant is added.

At the conclusion of this operation, the wort is preferably filtered for the second time. The crystalline must is sent and cooled inside the fermenter, subsequently the must is aerated and inoculated (Saccharomyces cerevisiae), the fermentation is completed around 5 to 7 days at a temperature between 14 to 18 ° C Once the required attenuation is obtained, the maturation begins, which takes 10 to 20 days, and the temperature is lowered below 0 ° C. After the maturation stage, a bioconservative of natural origin is added. The matured product is filtered, carbonated and packaged in previously sanitized containers.

In case of wanting to occupy a greater proportion of burst amaranth up to 100%, it is necessary to occupy exogenous enzymes, an enzymatic complex formed by the protease enzymes, α-amylase and β-glucanase is added to the mixture of amaranth and water, using up to 100% by weight of amaranth in the total mixture. Regarding the saccharification stage, in this modality it could take place at a temperature up to 80 ° C, the rest of the process is similar to that of the previous modality.

The beer obtained in this way was found to have a low gluten content of less than 60 ppm, particularly in the case of low-gluten beer, measurements of 50 ppm ± 5 were obtained and for a beer that is considered gluten-free the process of gluten-free beer production allowed to obtain a percentage less than or equal to = 20 ppm The method of the present invention for making beer using amaranth as an adjunct will be more clearly illustrated by means of the examples described below, which are presented for purposes merely illustrative, but not limiting thereof, said examples being following Example 1 Process of making low-gluten beer using amaranth Process to manufacture 170 liters of beer with low gluten amaranth A mass of 4.7 kg of amaranth seeds was conditioned which were thermally burst by means of contact with a surface at a temperature of 90 ° C for a sufficient period of time (from 5 to 10 min), where 99% of the Total mass of seeds burst. The burst seed of amaranth was mixed with 15 liters of process water previously conditioned with salts of MgSO4, ZnSO4, NaCI, CaCb, the mixture was introduced into the macerator (figure 1) in which the mixture is heated at a rate of 1 ° C / min until reaching a temperature of 70 to 75 ° C.

The mixture was constantly stirred to reach the set temperature and allowed to stand for a period of time between 10 to 15 minutes. Afterwards, the temperature is lowered to a temperature between 45 to 50 ° C, at this point a 0.5 kg mass of barley malt was added. The mixture is mixed until homogenized and allowed to stand for a period of time of 10 to 15 minutes.

After the previous stage, the temperature of the macerator is raised around 60 ° C to 65 ° C at a rate of 1 ° C / min. Once with the temperature in this interval, a mass of 14 kg of pale base malt was added, immediately the mixture is homogenized and left to rest for a period of 25 to 30 minutes. At the end of the previous stage, the temperature of the macerator is raised again at a rate of 1 ° C / min until reaching a temperature between 70 to 75 ° C, and the temperature was maintained in this range for a period of time of 50 to 60 minutes. After the mixture is transferred to a false bottom filter "lauter-tun" to separate the spent grains during this stage the temperature of the macerator decreases around 60 to 65 ° C and lasts 20 to 30 min.

The crystalline must is entered into the kettle "ettle" and the temperature is high up to 85 to 90 ° C at a rate of 1 ° C / min, the temperature in this interval for a period of 60 to 90 min. add the hops The must is filtered again to separate the protein precipitate "trub", the final must is cooled to a temperature of 15 ° C aerated and transferred to a fermentor where it is inoculated with a selected strain of S. cerevisiae and fermentation is started by a period of 240 hours at a temperature of 18 ° C. At the end of this time the temperature decreases to 5 ° C and is maintained for a period of 120 hours; After this stage, the beer is filtered and gasified.

Example 2 Process of making beer free in gluten using amaranth Process to manufacture 170 liters of beer A mass of 18 kg of amaranth seeds was conditioned, which were thermally burst by means of contact with a surface at a temperature of 90 ° C for a sufficient period of time (from 5 to 40 min), where 99% of the Total mass of seeds burst. The burnt amaranth seed was mixed with 70 liters of process water previously conditioned with salts of MgSO4, ZnSO4, NaCI, CaCl2, then the mixture is introduced into the macerator (figure 2) in which the mixture is heated at a rate of 1 ° C / min until reaching a temperature of 45 to 50 ° C, at this temperature the pH of the mixture is adjusted to 5.5 units using lactic acid the mixture is constantly stirred to homogenize; the mixture is heated until it reaches 70 to 75 ° C (rapid hydration of the starch), when the temperature is reached it is immediately reduced from 45 to 50 ° C Then add 0.2 to 1 ml of Optizym GA (glucoamylase of fungic origin) and let it act for a period of time between 50 to 60 minutes stirring constantly, 15 minutes before concluding this stage a mixture is added to the mixture 0.5 to 1 g of Optizym PP (protease extracted from the seed of the papaya). Again the temperature of the macerator is raised to a temperature of between 65 to 70 ° C, a volume of 10 to 15 ml of Optizim BA (Bacillus subtilis alpha amylase) is added at this point, the mixture is kept at this temperature by a Time period from 50 to 60 min.

The mixture is conducted inside the false bottom filter "lauter-tun" to separate the coarse, in which the temperature decreases around 60 ° C this stage takes around 30 to 60 min. The crystalline must is transferred: inside the kettle and the remaining volume of 80 liters of process water is added, the temperature is raised to a temperature of 85 to 90 ° C at a rate of 1 ° C / min, having the temperature in this interval for a period of time of 60 to 100 min upon reaching this temperature the hop is added.

The must is filtered again to separate the protein precipitate "trub", the final must is cooled to a temperature of 15 ° C aerated and transferred to a fermentor where it is inoculated with a selected strain of S. cerevisiae and fermentation is started by a period of 240 hours at a temperature of 18 ° C. At the end of this time the temperature decreases to 5 ° C and is maintained for a period of 120 hours; After this stage, the beer is filtered and gasified.

Although certain preferred embodiments of the present invention have been described and exemplified, it should be emphasized that numerous modifications to them are possible, such as the selection process for breaking the seed, the ratio used etc. Therefore, the present invention should not be considered as restricted except by what is required by the prior art and by the scope of the appended claims.

Claims (14)

1. An amaranth brewing process, characterized in that it comprises the following stages: a) heat treatment of amaranth seed in order to burst it; b) mix the amaranth seed burst in water with i) barley malt or ii) exogenous enzymes in order to produce must; c) saccharify the must; d) hopping the saccharified wort to form a hopped mixture; and e) fermenting the hopped mixture to obtain the amaranth beer.

2. An amaranth brewing process, according to claim 1, characterized in that the heat treatment of the amaranth is carried out by contacting the seeds with a hot surface "expansion", cooking in water, passing through hot air, injection of steam at high pressure, electric oven and microwave

3. A brewing process, according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that in step b), the mixture is heated to a temperature of up to 90 ° C.

4. A brewing process, according to claim 1, characterized in that in step b) barley malt is used and subsequently the mixture is cooled to a temperature of at least 45 ° C to be saccharified.

5. An amaranth brewing process, according to claim 1, characterized in that ground malt is added to the mixture of amaranth and water.

6. An amaranth brewing process, according to claim 1, characterized in that the amaranth is added in an amount of up to 50% by weight with respect to the total mixture when barley malt is used in step b).

7. An amaranth brewing process, according to claim 1, characterized in that in stage b) exogenous enzymes are used and the amaranth is used up to 100% by weight with respect to the total mixture.

8. An amaranth brewing process, according to claim 7, characterized in that the amaranth is present in the mixture from 60% by weight with respect to the total mixture.

9. An amaranth brewing process, according to claim 7, characterized in that the exogenous enzymes comprise a complex of exogenous enzymes formed by an enzymatic complex of glucoamylases (α-glucoamylase and β-glucanase).

10. An amaranth brewing process, according to any of the preceding claims, characterized in that in step c) saccharification takes place at a temperature of up to 80 ° C

11. An amaranth brewing process, according to any of the preceding claims, characterized in that after saccharifying the wort, a filtering step is carried out and reheated.

12. An amaranth brewing process, according to any of the preceding claims, characterized in that the reheating takes place at a temperature of up to 90 ° C.

13. An amaranth brewing process, according to any of the preceding claims, characterized in that the fermentation is carried out for a period of up to 7 days.

14. An amaranth beer obtained by the process as defined in any of claims 1 to 13, wherein the beer has a gluten content of less than 60 ppm.