Evolution of Folate Content During Wort Production

There are numerous scientific publications about the folate content of several types of beers available in commercial trade, but there is limited information about the effect of raw materials and technological steps of brewing on folate content. In this study the aim was to investigate different raw materials and the evolution of folate content during laboratory and pilot scale brewing. For the determination of folate content of different malts, three types of barley malts (Pilsner, Caramel, and Coloring), wheat malt, rye malt, and oat malt were analysed. For the study of the evolution of folate content during the brewing process, worts were produced on laboratory and pilot scale. Among malts, Pilsner type barley malt had the highest folate content (44.7 μg/100 g d.m.). During brewing the protein rest seemed to dissolve the majority of the folate content, and with the increasing temperature of the β- and α-amylase rests there was a further dissolution. Filtration and sparging did not have negative effect on folate concentration related to the extract content of the wort. Hop boiling had no negative effect on folate content, folate seemed to be stable during the one-hour boiling. Natural folate of barley malt seemed to be stable through the technological steps of brewing, offering the possibility to produce a foodstuff with high natural folate content.