MARTIN ZARNKOW (1), Roland Schmalenbach (2), Thomas Becker (1)
(1) Technische Universität München-Weihenstephan, Lehrstuhl für Brau-
und Getränketechnologie, Freising, Germany; (2) Technische Universität
München-Weihenstephan, Freising, Germany
The present work dealt with purine input through individual brewing
raw materials during the production process. As a component of nucleic
acid, purines are essential for metabolism. In certain circumstances,
however, as a result of excessive intake through nourishment, they are
able to benefit the development of metabolic diseases such as
hyperuricemia and, consequently, gout. People suffering from
hyperuricemia should avoid food with high purine content. In comparison
with other aliments, beer has no particular high purine content. But the
combination of alcohol and purines, which are present in beer, is
critical for people suffering from hyperuricemia. A beer with a low
purine content and perhaps reduced alcohol content could fill a market
gap. For this work, samplings were conducted of the different brews
during the complete production process in order to get a picture of the
purine input in beer. High-performance liquid chromatography was applied
to make the analyses of all samples. It could be shown that the main
part of purines reaches the finished product through malt. In contrast,
the purine input through hop is very low and, therefore, shall be
disregarded. Depending on the performance type, the fermentation has a
different influence on the purine content and can lead to its reduction
as well as to its increase. Based on these results, congress mashes were
made of malts from different types of cereals and pseudocereals. It
could be shown that wort with reduced purine content can be produced
with malts consistent with the Purity Law as well as with malts that are
not in accordance with this law. An analyses of different beer types
also showed that the purine content is mainly influenced by malt and
fermentation. Beer types whose throw is very high, such as in the case
of bock beer, showed higher purine contents than lower brewed beers,
such as different pilsner and wheat beer types. At the same time, the
extremely low purine content in the wheat beers allowed us to conclude
that a warm fermentation clearly decreases the purine content. Brewing
beers with reduced purine content could be possible by means of adequate
raw materials and a correlative warm fermentation.
Martin Zarnkow apprenticed as a brewer and maltster from 1989 to 1991
at a small brewery in Frankonia. Martin finished a diplom-ingenieur
(FH) degree, with a brewing technology option, in 1996 at TU München,
Weihenstephan, Germany. Martin worked as a brewmaster for one year in a
medium-sized brewery in Germany. Since 1997 Martin has been the head of
the research group for beverage technologies and head of the central
laboratory at the Lehrstuhl für Brau-und Getränketechnologie (Institute
for Beer and Beverage Technology) at TU München in Weihenstephan. In
2010, Martin finished his external Ph.D. research at the University
College of Cork, Ireland, on the subject “Proso Millet (Panicum miliaceum L.) a Sustainable Raw Material for the Malting and Brewing Process.”
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