For the past 100 years, polyphenol research has played a central role in brewing science. The class of phenolic substances comprises simple compounds built of 1 phenolic group as well as monomeric and oligomeric flavonoid compounds. As potential anti-or prooxidants, flavor precursors, flavoring agents and as interaction partners with other beer constituents, they influence important beer quality characteristics: flavor, color, colloidal, and flavor stability. The reactive potential of polyphenols is defined by their basic chemical structure, hydroxylation and substitution patterns and degree of polymerization. The quantitative and qualitative profile of phenolic substances in beer is determined by raw material choice. During the malting and brewing process, phenolic compounds undergo changes as they are extracted or enzymatically released, are subjected to heat-induced chemical reactions or are precipitated with or adsorbed to hot and cold trub, yeast cells and stabilization agents. This review presents the current state of knowledge of the composition of phenolic compounds in beer and brewing raw materials with a special focus on their fate from raw materials throughout the malting and brewing process to the final beer. Due to high-performance analytical techniques, new insights have been gained on the structure and function of phenolic substance groups, which have hitherto received little attention. This paper presents important information and current studies on the potential of phenolics to interact with other beer constituents and thus influence quality parameters. The structural features which determine the reactive potential of phenolic substances are discussed.
BACKGROUND Many studies have confirmed a wide variation in the phenolic content and antioxidant activity of beers. However, when commercial beers are studied, there is usually no information available on the brewing technology applied. In this study, technological parameters were varied systematically to influence the antioxidant content of beer with a view to improving its flavor stability. High‐throughput assays, ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP) and oxygen radical absorbance capacity (ORAC) were investigated as fast analytical methods to evaluate the influence of brewing technology on antioxidant activity. RESULTS Beers (n = 12) were brewed with systematic technological variations (malt modification, hopping regime) to influence the antioxidant potential. A late hop addition resulted in significantly higher phenolic content (high‐performance liquid chromatography with diode‐array detection – HPLC‐DAD) and antioxidant activity. Raw protein content and malt modification significantly influenced phenolic content and the antioxidant activity of beers hopped at the beginning of wort boiling. Samples were stored under forced and natural conditions and were evaluated by a sensory panel. The decline of bitter iso‐α‐acids as an analytical marker for oxidative aging was significantly lower in beers brewed from malts with high raw protein content. These samples also had higher antioxidant activity values. Panelists gave higher ratings for beer quality to aged beers with a late hop addition. However, late hopping resulted in enhanced hoppy aroma attributes and therefore an altered aroma profile. CONCLUSIONS Both antioxidant capacity methods were well suited as fast methods to evaluate brewing raw material and technological influence on antioxidant activity. The appropriate choice of barley malt and the malting regime could be promising tools to enhance the antioxidant activity of traditionally hopped beers. © 2019 The Authors. Journal of The Science of Food and Agriculture published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of Society of Chemical Industry.
There is a relationship between antioxidant activity and ageing stability of beer. The high-throughput antioxidant capacity assays ORAC and FRAP, which rely on specific reaction mechanisms, are validated as an addition to the established ESR-ST method with a focus on hop-derived antioxidants. Beers were brewed with systematic variations in hop variety, hop product, and the hopping regime (late hopping) to achieve sample beers varying widely in the concentrations of hop-derived antioxidants (α- and iso-α-acids, phenolic compounds). A significant positive correlation between phenolic compounds and the ORAC- and FRAP-values (p < 0.01) was found. The effect of individual resinous substances and free phenolic acids and flavonoids on the antioxidant capacity of beer (ORAC, FRAP, and ESR-ST) was proven in spiking trials. We found a correlation between the occurrence of the o-di-OH-group and the ORAC- and FRAP-values of phenolic compounds. Phenolic compounds did not react as anti- or prooxidants in the radical generation (ESR-ST). Higher concentrations of unisomerized α-acids significantly reduced ESR-signal intensity but had no significant effect on ORAC- or FRAP-values. Beers brewed with late hop addition, which yielded higher concentrations of unisomerized α-acids and phenolic compounds, had higher ORAC, FRAP-values and a reduced ESR-signal intensity. These three methods rely on different reaction principles, and therefore, different groups of hop-derived compounds act as antioxidants in these assays. A combination of the two high-throughput methods (ORAC, FRAP) and ESR-ST is advantageous for the evaluation of the antioxidant capacity of beers varying in hop-derived compounds.
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