Effects of worts treated with proteases on the assimilation of free amino acids and fermentation performance of lager yeast

The objective of this study was to investigate the changes in free amino acids (FAA) composition by supplementing three commercial proteases (Neutrase, Flavorzyme and Protamex) at the beginning of wort mashing, and monitoring the effects on the assimilation pattern of FAA and fermentation performance of lager yeast (Saccharomyces pastorianus) during normal and high gravity fermentations. Proteases supplementation significantly improved the extract yield and FAA level of mashed worts. Normal gravity worts treated with Flavorzyme and Neutrase exhibited higher fermentability, ethanol production and flavor volatiles concentration compared to the control worts, while these beneficial effects were observed in high gravity worts treated with Protamex and Neutrase. The reason for the above results is proposed to be the change in the assimilation pattern of FAA in lager yeast with increased wort gravity, especially for the improved assimilation ratios of Leu, Arg, Phe, His, Asp and Val. In normal gravity fermentations, there were strong correlations between the assimilation amounts of Lys, Leu, Arg and His and fermentability, while in high gravity fermentations, these good correlations were found with only Lys and His. The present study suggested that optimizing the composition of FAA by supplementing proteases during wort mashing was beneficial to beer brewing for improving fermentation performance of lager yeast and flavor volatiles formation.