Folic acid content and antioxidant activity of different types of beers available in Hungarian retail

Abstract

In this study 40 Hungarian retail beers were evaluated for folic acid content, antioxidant profile and physicochemical parameters. The physicochemical parameters, folic acid content and antioxidant activity of alcohol-free beers were the lowest. Folic acid content of beers aged with sour cherries showed high values, more than 0.4 mg/l and an alcohol-free beer-based mixed drink made with lemon juice contained more than 0.2 mg/l of folic acid. Dark beers and beers aged with sour cherries had the highest antioxidant activity probably owing to their high extract content, components released from the fruits and special malts. These results highlight the possibility of achieving adequate folic acid and relevant antioxidant intake without excessive alcohol and energy consumption by selecting appropriate beer types.

Phenols and Melanoidins as Natural Antioxidants in Beer. Structure, Reactivity and Antioxidant Activity

“…In this sense, an extensive study was carried out by Zhao et al in 2010 [47], in which 34 lager beers were analyzed and where TPC ranged between 152 and 339 mg GAE/L. Other later studies on Polish, Belgian, Serbian, Indian or Hungarian beers agree with that study [60,66,72,74,75] In general, ale beers present higher TPC than lagers [76]. In a comparative study between different Brazilian beers, it was observed that brown ale beers presented higher TPC than lager beers and also higher antioxidant properties [69].…”

“…Several studies have shown that fruity beers present high phenolic content, since fruits are an important source of phenols. Values of 1033 mg GAE/L, measured by FC method, have been reached for a Belgian beer made with elderberries [66]. High values are also obtained for beers made with persimmons [67] or goji berries [68].…”

“…The fact that alcohol-free beers present a lower TPC is important because it indicates that the beer was not developed with techniques that remove alcohol without altering the remaining compounds (phenols) [60], such techniques can be dealcoholisation of beer by reverse osmosis [70] or the use of membranes [71]. TPC for alcohol-free beer varies between 75 and 366 mg GAE/L [55,57,60,66,72,73].…”

“…The fact that dark beers have a high antioxidant activity may be due to the use of special malts such as caramel malts or malts with different colorations. During the boiling process of these malts, different Maillard compounds are generated that have antioxidant activity [66].…”

Modulation of Adenosine Receptors and Antioxidative Effect of Beer Extracts in in Vitro Models

“…Several authors postulate that beer ingestion protects from oxidative stress as a result of the high beer content of antioxidants [62,63,64,65]. Thus, these antioxidant compounds show protective effects in several experimental models.…”