Submit Manuscript | http://medcraveonline.com Abbreviations: FAN, free amino nitrogen; Cys, cysteine; His, histidine; Phe, phenylalanine; Lys, lysine, Trp, tryptophan; Arg, arginine; CTAB, cetyltrimethyl ammonium bromide Introduction Beer is the product resulting from the fermentation by brewer’s yeast of the wort obtained from malted cereal (barley), which may or may not be added by other cereals or sugar sources (called ‘adjuncts’), with the addition of hops. Depending on the raw materials used and the execution of its production process, it is possible for the consumer to appreciate different types and styles of beer, in addition to possible changes in the quality of the drink. 1–3 For a long time, beer production on artisanal scale was suffcient to supply the drink demand. However, throughout its history beer became a popular drink, becoming today the most consumed alcoholic beverage in the world, having as a consequence the production of beers in large scales, a factor that characterizes the brewer market until nowadays. Due to the great competition in the market and the need to supply to the demand with agility, the large industries usually make diverse adjustments, aiming at the reduction of the process costs or of the production times. As an example, signifcant changes in the mash curve profle, such as suppression of the time of protease activity to reduce time and energy expenditure in the process. The profle of the mash curve has a great infuence on the composition of the wort and beer, affecting the nitrogen content and the type of nitrogen compounds present, with effect on several characteristics of the drink, such as the favor (products and byproducts of the fermentation and permanence of non- hydrolyzed insoluble substances); the color (mainly by the release of soluble nitrogen and reducing sugars that will undergo subsequent parallel reactions); the texture (by the presence of proteins and dextrins); foam stability and beer turbidity (also infuenced by the protein profle present); caloric power; the alcohol content; and the beverage carbonation. 4–6 The reduction of mashing time usually promotes problems for the wort and beer, and it is common supplementing the wort with the addition of exogenous enzymes to avoid it. Mainly microbial amylase and proteases are added to improve the hydrolytic process. 7 Thus, there are important changes in the process, such as: increase in the yield of the mash and the free amino nitrogen content (FAN) present in the wort, as well as increased ethanol production and fermentation productivity. 8–12 The objective of this study was to evaluate the chemical and physicochemical composition of sweet worts and beers produced from different mash profles, with and without the addition of exogenous enzyme extract, rich in proteolytic activity. Materials The following raw materials, additives and fermentation agents were used to obtain worts and beers: water fltered on activated charcoal, Pilsen malt (Agromalte®), hops (Hallertau Perle, HGV®, 9.7% α-acids), proteolytic extract of microbial origin, obtained in previous work (Mathias et al., 2017) and bottom fermenting yeast- Saccharomyces cerevisiae (W-34/70, Fermentis®). MOJ Food Process Technol. 2017;5(2):282‒286. 282 ©2017 Mathias et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and build upon your work non-commercially. Infuence of mashing profle curve and addition of proteases on the composition of the wort and beer Volume 5 Issue 2 - 2017 Thiago Rocha dos Santos Mathias, 1 Matheus Cortes Real Dias Lopes, 1 Catarina Amorim Oliveira, 2 Renata Corrêa de Carvalho, 3 Flávia F de Carvalho Marques, 3 Eliana Flávia Camporese Sérvulo 4 1 Laboratory of Fermentation Technology, Federal Institute of Education, Science and Technology of Rio de Janeiro (IFRJ), Brasil 2 Laboratory of Food Chemistry, Federal Institute of Education, Science and Technology of Rio de Janeiro (IFRJ), Brasil 3 Laboratory of Fundamental and Applied Analytical Chemistry, Fluminese Federal University (UFF), Brasil 4 Laboratory of Industrial Microbiology, School of Chemistry, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ), Brasil Correspondence: Thiago Rocha dos Santos Mathias, Laboratory of Fermentation Technology, Federal Institute of Education, Science and Technology of Rio de Janeiro (IFRJ), Brasil, CEP 20270-021, Tel +55 21 2566 7772, Fax +55 21 3938 7567, Email thiago.mathias@ifrj.edu.br Received: September 16, 2017 | Published: November 21, 2017 Abstract Beer is the most consumed alcoholic beverage in the world. In order to reduce processing time and meet the fast market demand, several measures are taken by the breweries, such as exogenous enzymes supplementation and changes in the mash profile. The present study aims to evaluate the effect of proteolytic step suppression and the addition of exogenous proteases in mashing on wort and beer composition. For that, an experimental design was elaborated, which resulted in the production of four different worts and beers, with and without realization of the proteolytic step during the mashing, and with and without the addition of exogenous proteases. The brewer’s worts were analyzed for the following parameters: °Plato, extract, total nitrogen and free amino nitrogen content. The amino acids cysteine, histidine, phenylalanine, lysine, tryptophan and arginine were quantified in sweet worts by capillary electrophoresis. The beers produced were analyzed for alcohol content, real extract, total nitrogen and free amino nitrogen content, fermentation efficiency and the mass of coagulable matter. The addition of proteolytic extract promoted higher fermentation efficiency and an increase of the extract, as well as the contents of amino acids and total nitrogen in the sweet wort. Keywords: mashing profile, exogenous protease, wort composition MOJ Food Processing & Technology Research Article Open Access