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Building a better beer. I’m Bob Hirshon and this is Science Update.
Beer has been brewed for thousands of years, but the exact proteins that make beer beer have never been known—until now. In the Journal of Proteome Research, scientists have released an analysis if beer, listing 62 different proteins that contribute to the beverage. They include twenty proteins from barley, forty from yeast and two from corn. Brewers will be able to use the knowledge to manipulate the fermentation process to finetune the proteins, and therefore the taste, of future brews.
In other beer research, the European Union has invested nearly three and half million Euros in a program to study yeasts. There are thousands of varieties, and by better understanding them, the researchers believe they could make tremendous strides in developing new beers, breads and other foods. I’m Bob Hirshon, for AAAS, the science society.