A Review of Nigerian Potential Hop Substitutes in Beer Brewing: 1983-2020

Abstract

The Nigerian economy depended mainly on crude oil during the era of oil boom of 1973 which lasted up till1983. Agriculture was grossly neglected by successive governments. Following the economic recession that occurred years after and due to fall in crude oil price, the Nigerian government began to advocate for economic diversification. Consequently, agriculture became the area of interest and priority for industrial raw material sources. Unfortunately, Nigeria had imbibed the tradition of importing raw materials for all her industrial productions thereby creating unfavourable balance of trade between Nigeria and her foreign trading partners thus resulting in increase in the prices of finished products. Beer production is not exempted from the price increase since its raw materials are equally imported with their attendant problems on Nigeria’s foreign exchange. One of such raw materials is hops. The hop (Humulus lupulus L.) is a perennial dioecious climbing plant of hemp (cannabis) family and belonging to the order (urticales) which are grown in the temperate regions of the world, solely to meet the demand of the brewing industry. Hop extracts give beer its bitter taste, improve foam stability and act as antiseptics towards microorganisms. The quest to substitute hops with some tropical bitter vegetables in Nigeria’s brewing industry dates back to 1983 and since that time, many have compared hop extracts with those of Nigerian bitter plants such as Garcinia kola, Azadirachta indica, Vernonia amygdalina and Gongronema latifolium. This review takes a critical look on the efforts made so far since 1983 in investigating the potentiality of using Nigerian bitter plant extracts as suitable substitute for those of hop in the Nigerian brewing industry with special emphasis on Gas Chromatography Mass–Spectrometry (GC–MS) and Gas Chromatography–Flame Ionization Detector (GC–FID) techniques. It was concluded that none of the Nigerian plants has perfect potential as suitable substitute for hops in the Nigerian brewing industry. Consequently, further research efforts in the area of mixtures/blends of extract of plant species which mimic hop taste is strongly recommended.

Heavy Metals in Alcoholic Beverages Consumed in Awka, South-East Nigeria: Carcinogenic and Non-carcinogenic Health Risk Assessments

“…Detergents and deionized water were used to wash the glassware and sample bottles, which were thereafter soaked overnight with a solution of 10% HNO 3 in a 1% HCl solution, followed by rinsing with deionized water. Heavy metal analysis by Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometric technique as described by several authors [30][31][32][33][34] was adopted. Brie y, 10 cm 3 of perchloric acid and 10 cm 3 concentrated HNO 3 were added to 2 cm 3 of the sample in a 250 cm 3 beaker.…”

“…Hence, it is essential to monitor the suitability of consumption of some alcoholic beverages by residents of Awka, Anambra State, Nigeria. Due to health concerns regarding heavy metal pollution of foods, drinks, waterways, and soils, many investigations on groundwater [13][14][15], surface water [16,17], soil [18,19], sediments [20,21], plants and vegetables [22][23][24], and beer [25][26][27][28][29] have been published. Nonetheless, there is little or no literature on concentration levels and risk assessments of heavy metal contamination of alcoholic beverages consumed in Awka, Anambra State, Nigeria.…”

Beer as a Source of Hop Prenylated Flavonoids, Compounds With Antioxidant, Chemoprotective and Phytoestrogen Activity

“…This is the most concentrated form, however not all substances are preserved in the same amount and the beer taste may differ from a beverage in which conventional hops or pellets were used. Beer made with the addition of hop extracts is often depleted of polyphenols (Okafor et al, 2016). Hop isolates are widely used for a fast brewing since these are modified to contain soluble iso-bitter substances.…”

METALS AND POLYCYCLIC AROMATIC HYDROCARBONS (PAHs) IN BEER: A REVIEW

“…In our previous works [14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22], it was evidenced that some Nigerian bitter vegetables such as Garcinia kola (bitter cola), Vernonia amygdalina (bitter leave), Azadirachta indica (neem) and Gongronema latifolium (bush buck) could substitute hops in beer brewing. The substitution of hop extracts with Azadirachta indica extract was also studied by [23] with the conclusion that Azadirachta indica extract could be used as a substitute to hop extracts.…”