Hop: An Emerging Crop in Subtropical Areas in Brazil

Abstract

Brazil is one of the three largest beer producers in the world. Four basic ingredients are needed as raw material for the production of beer: water, malt, yeast, and hops (Humulus lupulus L.). Until recently, almost all of the hops in Brazil were imported from other countries. However, in the last decade, hop cultivation in Brazil has emerged due to the increase in the number of new craft breweries, which have demanded diversified raw material for the production of various types of beer. Hops is considered a short-day, temperate species, so the major challenge for the development of hop cultivation in Brazil, with high-yield capacity and with local typicity of bitterness and aroma, is the adaptation of cultivars to the photoperiod conditions in subtropical regions. This review addresses the history of hop cultivation in Brazil and characterizes the main climatic elements of three emerging subtropical growing regions located at different latitudes, such as air temperature, photoperiod, solar radiation, and water availability, to provide support for the development of new technologies for hop cultivation, including supplemental lighting, irrigation, and mulching.

Unveiling the phenology and associated floral regulatory pathways ofHumulus lupulusL. in subtropical conditions

“…The α and β acids present in the resins provide bitterness and aroma to the beer. Despite its economic importance, hops have been mostly cultivated in temperate zones between latitudes 35° and 55° N or S of the Equator (Jastrombek et al, 2022) and few works have explored its phenological cycle in association with the regulatory networks governing flowering in tropical and subtropical regions.…”