Liisa Otama (1),
Ashley Galant (2), Sari Hartikainen (1), Sheila Jensen (2), Mari
Kiviluoma (1); (1) Thermo Fisher Scientific, Vantaa, Finland; (2) Busch
Agricultural Resources, Inc., U.S.A.
Analytical
Supplier Poster
A new automated method to measure diastatic power in malted cereal
grains is presented. Traditionally, the diastatic power of malt is
determined by measuring the reducing sugars produced from a controlled
diastasis of starch under standardized conditions. Older manual
titrimetric methods for reducing sugars have been largely replaced by
automated measurements, using continuous flow analysis systems to
increase sample throughput; however, these systems are expensive and
require large amounts of reagents. In this novel method, diastatic power
is determined by measuring the end-product formation of D-glucose using
a specific enzymatic reaction through automation with the discrete
analyzer Thermo Scientific Gallery Plus Beermaster. The process involves
extraction of enzymes by malt infusion, followed by reaction with ASBC
special starch substrate under the controlled conditions of time,
temperature, pH, and substrate concentration. The resulting sugars,
primarily maltose, are further hydrolyzed with alpha-glucosidase to
produce D-glucose. D-Glucose is subsequently measured using the Thermo
Scientific D-Glucose kit, which includes ready-to-use system reagents,
including hexokinase and glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase. Reactions
are performed at 37°C and a photometric end-point measurement at 340 nm.
A method comparison study was performed by analyzing a series of malt
samples with a range in diastatic power using both the novel method and
ASBC Malt-6C as a reference method. The repeatability and
reproducibility of the new method was also determined.
Liisa Otama earned both B.S. and M.S. degrees in analytical
chemistry from the University of Helsinki, Finland. She joined Thermo
Fisher Scientific in 2008 and has held several positions, ranging from
process engineering to R&D. In her current role as a product manager
for discrete analyzer reagents and applications, she is responsible for
identifying new customer needs, as well maintaining and continuously
improving the existing product portfolio. Her expertise is highly
customer-focused and includes evaluating industrial product feedback and
addressing inquiries, in addition to supporting customer training.
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