Development of an automatable method for the measurement of endo-1,4-β-xylanase activity in barley malt and initial investigation into the relationship between endo-1,4-β-xylanase activity and wort viscosity
journal contribution
posted on 2023-05-19, 22:27authored byMangan, D, Cornaggia, C, Liadova, A, Draga, A, Ivory, R, Evans, E, McCleary, BV
Stages of the brewing process, such as mash separation to produce wort and beer filtration, can in certain cases prove problematic due to the increased viscosity caused by high levels of the non-starch polysaccharides, primarily β-glucan and arabinoxylan. Of these two polysaccharides, β-glucan has been extensively studied, but arabinoxylan has been somewhat overlooked. The concentration of arabinoxylan present during these process stages is principally expected to be inversely related to the malt endo-1,4-β-xylansase activity that is available to degrade these polysaccharides. The development of a novel method for the measurement of endo-1,4-β-xylansase activity in barley malt extracts is described herein. The method was characterised by two analysts in terms of repeatability (single analyst CVs = 2.2% and 2.3%, n = 8; interanalyst CV = 4.8%, n = 16) and sensitivity (LOD = 10 U/kg, LOQ = 34 U/kg). The assay procedure was then applied to the measurement of xylanase activity in a series of eight standard barley malts and the results obtained were compared with their associated Congress wort viscosities as measured using the conventional EBC Method 4.8, wort viscosity. A highly statistically significant relationship between xylanase activity and wort viscosity was found with a Pearson's correlation coefficient of -0.82 (p-value of 0.007).
History
Publication title
Journal of Cereal Science
Volume
84
Pagination
90-94
ISSN
0733-5210
Department/School
School of Natural Sciences
Publisher
Academic Press Ltd Elsevier Science Ltd
Place of publication
24-28 Oval Rd, London, England, Nw1 7Dx
Rights statement
Copyright 2018 Elsevier Ltd.
Repository Status
Restricted
Socio-economic Objectives
Other plant production and plant primary products not elsewhere classified