Integration of Arthrospira platensis (spirulina) into the brewing process to develop new beers with unique sensory properties

Abstract

Microalgae, and particularly the cyanobacterium Arthrospira platensis (spirulina), have attracted much attention due to their wide range of uses. The potential use of spirulina in food is mainly driven by its high content of macro and micronutrients including proteins, γ-linolenic acid, sulfated polysaccharides, minerals, vitamins, and the natural pigment phycocyanin. Despite these potential benefits, spirulina is still not widely used in the food industry due to numerous technological challenges during manufacturing or specific sensory issues in the final product. This research deals with the feasibility of integrating spirulina into the brewing process to create a tasty beer with high consumer acceptance. In the novel recipes, 5% (w/w) of the malt was replaced by spirulina powder. The first part of the study investigated inclusion at different time points throughout manufacturing of a reference beer style (mild pale ale). Compared to the control, alcoholic fermentation was slightly influenced by cyanobacterial biomass but resulted in a beer with a typical beer-like character. Sensory evaluations including a simple descriptive test, a popularity analysis, and Just-About-Right-Questions, indicated a complex alteration in the sensory properties. This includes a dominant algal taste that disturbs the character of the pale ale beers but also a deep blue color of the beer, if spirulina was included during the wort cooling phase. Based on these results, another set of beers with a higher original extract concentration and increased hop dosages was produced. These beers had a high popularity (6.0 original TESTSCORE; 7.12 and 6.64 optimized TESTSCORE), and also exhibited a deep blue color due to the natural pigment phycocyanin from spirulina. Further, bitterness and algal taste was rated by most of the panelists to be “just right” and the simple descriptive test indicated “sweetness” as important attribute which was not expected for this hoppy beer style.

Addition of Spirulina to Craft Beer: Evaluation of the Effects on Volatile Flavor Profile and Cytoprotective Properties

“…For example, the reduced ethanol emission in beer with spirulina highlighted a lower fermentative performance of the yeast when adding spirulina during the fermentative process. This finding is likely linked with the antimicrobic spirulina effect that may have interfered with the fermentation process reported by some authors [33,34].…”

“…In fact, Lactobacillus is part of a family of bacteria called "lactic acid bacteria". The addition of spirulina, in a limited percentage, during the fermentation process allows the creation of a tasty beer but with undoubted alterations in smell and taste compared to conventional beer [34].…”

“…However, since the parent ethanol peak (m/z 47.049) was saturated during our analysis, the ethanol emission monitoring was assessed following the values of the main ethanol-related peaks (m/z 65.059 and 75.080) as previously suggested by Capozzi et al [22]. Subsequently, only peaks whose average signal was higher than 1 ppbv were reported, while the peaks related to ethanol and ethanol clusters were discarded (m/z 29, 30,32,34,37,39,46,47,48,55,66,76,93,94,121,122,139), as reported by Boscaini et al [23].…”

Complexation of phycocyanin with hydroxypropyl-β-cyclodextrin and its application in blue beer containing quinoa saponins as foaming agents

“…Both poses were minimized using a conjugate gradient optimization procedure until a root mean square (RMS) reached 0.01 kcal/(mol·Å). Δ E was calculated according to equation ( 5 ).…”

“…As a marine natural pigment, PC is extensively applied for supplementation and food colorant. Spirulina powder containing PC was blended into the brewing process of beer to develop blue beer ( 5 ). However, the major problems of this phytochemical are its low thermal stability and light and thermal instability, which severely restrict its applications.…”