Glucosidase inhibitors: new approaches to malting efficiency

葡萄糖苷酶抑制剂：提高麦芽效率的新方法

• 批准号: BB/I017321/1
• 负责人: Robbie Waugh
• 金额: $ 18.12万
• 依托单位: James Hutton Institute
• 依托单位国家: 英国
• 项目类别: Research Grant
• 财政年份: 2012
• 资助国家: 英国
• 起止时间: 2012 至 无数据
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=BB%2FI017321%2F1
• 关键词: Glucosidase; inhibitors; new; approaches; malting

The brewing and distilling industries are of enormous economic importance to the UK. They have a major impact on farming because they use almost 2M tonnes of UK-grown barley (about one third of the crop, occupying one third of a million hectares of land) every year, they provide employment for tens of thousands of people, and their products are enjoyed not only in the UK but in many countries around the world. There is strong pressure on the industry to increase the efficiency with which barley grain is converted into beer and whisky. This is in part to maintain profitability, but also to reduce the production of waste and the amount of energy used in the conversion process. The basic conversion process occurs in four main stages. First, during malting, the barley grains are soaked in water then allowed to start to germinate. Inside the germinating grain, enzymes are produced that can convert the starch stored in the grain to sugars. Second, during kilning, the grain is heated to dry it out so that germination stops. Third, the grain is milled then mixed with hot water. During this mashing process, the enzymes convert the starch to sugars. Finally, the sugar-containing liquid is drained off and yeast is added. The yeast converts the sugars to alcohol. One of the major losses during the conversion of grain to beer and whisky occurs during malting. As soon as the enzymes are produced, they start to convert starch to sugars inside the seed, and the sugars fuel the growth of rootlets. Thus some of the starch store is lost before the mashing stage, reducing the potential yield of alcohol and resulting in the production of unwanted rootlets. This loss is between 5% and 10% of the starch. In the context of a market value of £20bn for the brewing industry alone, even a small reduction in the extent of starch loss during malting would have huge economic benefits. Because of the economic importance of this malting loss, several different methods to prevent rootlet growth have been tested. However these have not been applied commercially, because of cost, toxicity, or adverse effects on the quality of the malt. We have discovered that both rootlet growth and starch loss in germinating barley seeds can be reduced or prevented by the application of tiny amounts of natural plant products, called iminosugars. These products have the potential to reduce malting losses without undesirable side effects. Understanding how they work inside the seed will also provide new information that will help in developing better varieties of barley for brewing and distilling. In this project we will test natural products in a 'micromalting' system that mimics real malting, and identify which ones are suitable for commercial trials. We will use biochemical and molecular methods to discover precisely how these products prevent the growth of rootlets, and the loss of starch. This information will enable us to identify genes in barley that are important in determining the malting quality of the grain. To ensure that our research is relevant to the needs of the brewing and distilling industries, we will regularly consult an Advisory Panel that includes an expert on these industries, and also experts on barley grain germination, plant natural products, and malting.

酿造和蒸馏工业对英国具有巨大的经济重要性，它们对农业产生重大影响，因为它们每年使用近 200 万吨英国酒（约占农作物的三分之一，占用一百万公顷土地的三分之一）。年，他们为数以万计的人提供了就业机会，他们的产品不仅在英国而且在世界许多国家都享有盛誉。该行业面临着提高大麦谷物转化为啤酒和啤酒的效率的巨大压力。这是威士忌。部分是为了保持盈利能力，同时也是为了减少废物的产生和转化过程中使用的能源量。基本的转化过程分为四个主要阶段：首先，在制麦过程中，将大麦谷物浸泡在水中，然后开始发酵。发芽的谷物内部会产生酶，将谷物中储存的淀粉转化为糖。热水。在糖化过程中，酶将淀粉转化为糖，最后，排出含糖液体并添加酵母，这是谷物转化为啤酒和威士忌过程中的主要损失之一。在麦芽制造过程中，酶一旦产生，就会开始将种子内的淀粉转化为糖，而糖会促进细根的生长，因此在糖化阶段之前会损失一些淀粉储存，从而降低潜在产量。酒精的损失会导致淀粉的 5% 到 10% 之间，仅在酿造业的市场价值就达 200 亿英镑的情况下，即使淀粉损失的程度略有减少。由于这种麦芽损失的经济重要性，已经测试了几种防止根芽生长的方法，但由于成本、毒性或对质量的不利影响，这些方法尚未投入商业应用。麦芽。研究人员发现，通过使用少量的天然植物产品（亚氨基糖）可以减少或防止发芽大麦种子中的细根生长和淀粉损失。这些产品有可能减少麦芽损失，而不会产生不良副作用。种子内部的信息还将提供新的信息，有助于开发用于酿造和蒸馏的更好的大麦品种。在这个项目中，我们将在模仿真实麦芽制造的“微麦芽制造”系统中测试天然产品，并确定哪些产品适合。我们将使用生物化学和分子方法来准确地发现这些产品如何防止根的生长和淀粉的损失，这些信息将使我们能够识别大麦中对于决定谷物的发芽质量非常重要的基因。为了确保我们的研究与酿造和蒸馏行业的需求相关，我们将定期咨询顾问小组，该小组包括这些行业的专家，以及大麦谷物发芽、植物天然产品和麦芽制造方面的专家。