Saccharification and alcohol fermentation characteristics of barley malt preparations for use in organic processed food

Organic barley malt preparations were obtained for use as food additives in organic processed food. The malt preparations containing α‐ and β‐amylases and microbial preparations containing both amylases were tested for their ability to convert starch to fermentable sugars and for supplying substrates for fermentation on brown rice, waxy rice, potato, lentil, pea, wheat, and corn. Brown rice and waxy rice treated by malt preparations were significantly preferred over the other substrates (p < .05). Alcohol fermentation characteristics of saccharification preparations, obtained from malt and microbial preparations, by Saccharomyces cerevisiae bayanus (EC‐1118) showed brown rice to be a preferable substrate compared with the others in case of the organic rather than the microbial ones, with an alcohol fermentation yield of 0.49 ± 0.02g/g and productivity of 2.67 ± 0.09g/L/hr (p < .05), suggesting a role of the malt preparations as new food additives in organic food applications. PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS: Amylases have various industrial applications, including food, fermentation, textile, paper, and pharmaceutical industries. This study demonstrates that microbial preparations can be replaced by organic barley malt preparations containing α‐ and β‐amylases to produce alcohol by fermentation using brown rice as a fermentation substrate. The organic barley malt preparations create a new applicable uses for organic food processes as an enzyme substitute, particularly in many starch degrading enzymatic applications.