Brewers' spent grain: a review with an emphasis on food and health

Abstract

Brewers' spent grain (BSG) is the most abundant by‐product generated in the beer‐brewing process. This material consists of the barley grain husks obtained as solid residue after the production of wort. BSG is rich in fibre and protein and, to date, the main use for the elimination of this by‐product has been as an animal feed. However, because of its nutritional content, BSG is of interest for application and fortification of human food products, particularly in view of its low cost and availability in large amounts. In addition, the importance of BSG as an ingredient and potential source of health‐promoting bioactive components is beginning to be recognised. The investigation of alternative uses of BSG is pertinent, not only from the perspective of the brewer who can benefit from valorisation of this by‐product, but also from an environmental perspective as the recycling and re‐use of industrial wastes and by‐products has become increasingly important. This review presents the current knowledge on BSG, covering its production, composition and methods for the release of valuable components, and focuses on the potential health benefits attributed to its constituents and the use of this brewer by‐product in food applications. Copyright © 2016 The Institute of Brewing & Distilling

Pyropia columbina phycocolloids as microencapsulating material improve bioaccessibility of brewers’ spent grain peptides with ACE‐I inhibitory activity

“…Brewers’ spent grain (BSG) is a byproduct of the brewing process. It has been used to obtain different bioactive compounds (Lynch et al ., ) including peptides, which have been shown to exert different in vitro bio‐functional properties such as: antioxidant, anti‐microbial, anti‐inflammatory, hypoglycaemic (α‐glucosidase, α‐amylase and dipeptidyl peptidase‐IV inhibitory activities), antithrombotic and angiotensin converting enzyme I (ACE‐I) inhibitory activities (Connolly et al ., , ; Cian et al ., ). On the other hand, bioactive peptides can be inactivated by proteolytic enzymes and extremely low pH in the gastrointestinal tract when they are administered orally (Wang et al ., ).…”

Biovalorization of brewers’ spent grain for the production of laccase and polyphenols

“… and Lynch et al . . Recent publications suggest diverse applications of BSG as a substrate for the cultivation of microorganisms , the production of protein concentrates , enzymes , citric acid, lactic acid and xylitol or as an adjunct for human food products .…”

“…In the brewing process, BSG remains after wort production and consists of the husk-pericarp-seed coat layer from the malted barley grain, and from hop residues (1). The traditional use of BSG is in animal nutrition, but more recently it has been used in biogas (3,11), bioethanol production (12) and other applications as reviewed by Mussato et al (1,9) and Lynch et al (7). Recent publications suggest diverse applications of BSG as a substrate for the cultivation of microorganisms (13), the production of protein concentrates (14), enzymes (15)(16)(17)(18), citric acid, lactic acid and xylitol (18) or as an adjunct for human food products (17,19).…”

An Overview of the Utilisation of Brewery By-Products as Generated by British Craft Breweries

“…Animal feed as a prime route for spent grain disposal among the craft brewers mirrors the practices of the very large industrial breweries [2,28]. However, the craft brewers dealt with the users of the spent grain directly and rarely utilised a contracted third party company to facilitate the removal of their spent grains.…”

“…Ammonium tetraformate is a potent preservative for animal feed [25], with no adverse effect on feeding efficiency on animals [26,27]. However, Lynch et al [28] clarify that there are currently no regulations with the preservation of brewers' spent grain for applications in human food, but various countries have guidelines for best practice preservation for spent grain used for animal feed.…”