Method for rapidly detecting the filtration properties of malt and device therefor

Abstract

The application discloses a kind of methods for rapidly detecting malt filtration performance, comprising the following specific steps: (1) preparation of mash: after being ground malt is hydrolyzed and inactivated, to obtain mash;(2) the absorbance of the mash is determined under ultraviolet spectrophotometer after filtration, to judge the filtration performance.The method of the present application does not carry out fermentation experiment, and the filtration performance of malt is judged by rapid detection, which can truly reflect the filtration performance potential of malt, and predict the filtration performance in the brewing process, quickly and accurately judge the filtration in actual production, improve production efficiency, and ensure beer quality and stability.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This invention belongs to the field of beer analysis and testing technology, specifically relating to a method and apparatus for rapidly detecting malt filtration performance. Background Technology

[0002] Due to the influence of international situations and climate change, the quality of imported barley fluctuates significantly, making production process control difficult, primarily manifested in difficulties in filtering the fermentation liquid. The filtration rate of wort is one of the most important indicators for brewers, as it determines the efficiency of the beer production process. Therefore, studying the factors influencing filtration rate has always been a hot research topic in the beer industry.

[0003] The filtration rate of barley malt has a significant impact on the quality of the finished beer. Slow filtration results in high saccharification viscosity, hindering enzyme contact and substrate degradation. This leads to insufficient degradation of large molecules such as proteins and starches, lower extract yield, prolonged production time per batch, and increased production costs. During barley germination, starch, protein, and β-glucan partially dissolve under the action of enzymes. After wilting and drying, the activity of various enzymes decreases, allowing the barley grains to fully dissolve and produce malt. Insufficient breakdown of proteins, hemicellulose, and high-viscosity β-glucan during malting affects the beer brewing process. It causes filtration difficulties in the fermentation broth filtration stage, reducing production efficiency. High turbidity in the filtered fermentation broth leads to unstable beer quality and negatively impacts sales.

[0004] Factories primarily monitor beer filtration performance by assessing the turbidity of the fermentation liquid after filtration, the amount of soil filtered in a single pass through the filter, and the pressure difference before and after filtration. However, these methods lack predictability. If filtration difficulties arise, the only options are to replace the filter aid and reduce the filtration speed, which affects production efficiency, increases production costs, and adds to the instability of beer quality. Currently, there is no testing method to predict beer filtration performance based on malt filtration performance.

[0005] Therefore, how to provide a rapid method for testing malt filtration performance is an urgent problem to be solved. Summary of the Invention

[0006] In view of this, the object of the present invention is to predict beer filtration performance by rapidly detecting the filtration performance of malt, and to provide a method and apparatus for rapidly detecting the filtration performance of malt.

[0007] To achieve the above objectives, the present invention adopts the following technical solution:

[0008] A method for rapidly testing the filtration performance of malt includes the following specific steps:

[0009] (1) Preparation of mash: The crushed malt is enzymatically hydrolyzed and then inactivated to obtain mash;

[0010] (2) After filtering the mash, the absorbance value is measured under a UV spectrophotometer to determine the filtration performance.

[0011] Preferably, the pulverization in step (1) is performed using a Miag DLFU disc pulverizer.

[0012] Preferably, the disc spacing of the pulverizer in step (1) is 0.2 mm.

[0013] Preferably, the enzymatic hydrolysis conditions in step (1) are: incubation at 38-50℃ for 22-38 min.

[0014] Preferably, water with a mass of 5 times that of the malt is added during the enzymatic hydrolysis in step (1).

[0015] Preferably, the water is distilled water or deionized water.

[0016] Preferably, the mass ratio of enzyme to malt in the enzymatic hydrolysis in step (1) is 1:1000;

[0017] The enzymes include α-amylase, β-glucanase, and neutral protease in a mass ratio of 1:2:1, 1:1:1, and 3:2:1.

[0018] Preferably, the inactivation conditions in step (1) are to keep warm at 80-100℃ for 30 minutes.

[0019] Preferably, the filtration in step (2) uses a 3μm pore size aqueous filter membrane.

[0020] The reason for using this membrane is that most of the particulate matter in the wort can enter the filtrate, allowing for a comprehensive assessment of the results. The uniform pore size of the membrane ensures that the particle size in the filtrate is uniform, thus improving the stability of the results.

[0021] Preferably, the aqueous filter membrane is an MCE aqueous filter membrane.

[0022] Preferably, the absorbance value in step (2) is measured at 650-700 nm.

[0023] Preferably, the method for judging the filtration performance in step (2) is as follows:

[0024] EBC standard malt is set as the standard malt for this test method. According to the formula, if Δ>0, the malt's filtration performance is abnormal; if Δ≤0, the malt's filtration performance is normal. The formula is:

[0025] △ = (sample absorbance - EBC standard malt absorbance) × 1000.

[0026] A device for rapidly detecting the filtration performance of malt includes a heater, a slide rail fixedly connected to one side of the bottom of the heater and vertically connected to the heater, and a slide table slidably connected on the slide rail;

[0027] A pressure plate parallel to the heater is connected to the slide plate. At least one spring fixing rod is fixed on the pressure plate. A spring is provided on the spring fixing rod. The spring is parallel to the slide rail.

[0028] The bottom of the spring fixing rod is detachably connected to the reaction tube; the heater is provided with a heating groove that matches the reaction tube.

[0029] Preferably, the slide rail has a lead screw channel in the middle, and slide rails on both sides of the lead screw channel. The lead screw structure is located in the lead screw channel, and the two ends of the lead screw structure are fixed to the two ends of the lead screw channel. One end of the lead screw structure is connected to the stepper motor through a coupling, and can be driven to rotate by the rotation of the stepper motor.

[0030] The slide has an internal thread structure that slides in conjunction with the lead screw structure, and the slides up and down by rotating the lead screw.

[0031] The stepper motor is fixed to one end of the heater;

[0032] The slide table is slidably connected to the slide rail, so that the slide table will only move along the slide rail and will not rotate with the lead screw when the lead screw rotates.

[0033] Preferably, the reaction tube includes a sleeve cap and a tube body adapted to the sleeve cap, and the sleeve cap is connected to the bottom of the spring fixing rod;

[0034] The tube body includes a filter sleeve and an enzymatic hydrolysis test tube, wherein the enzymatic hydrolysis test tube is sleeved on the outside of the filter sleeve;

[0035] The bottom of the filter sleeve is a microporous filter membrane, and a sealing ring is fixedly provided on the test tube wall at the bottom of the filter sleeve; the top of the filter sleeve is adapted to the sleeve cap.

[0036] The procedure for using the above-mentioned device of the present invention is as follows: Add enzyme, distilled water and crushed malt to the enzymatic hydrolysis test tube, control the pressure plate to lift the sleeve cap and place the tube into the heater, turn on the programmable heater and raise the temperature to the reaction temperature, raise the temperature to the inactivation temperature after the reaction is completed, manually press down the pressure plate and filter sleeve after inactivation to filter, the clarified liquid is filtered through the microporous filter membrane into the filter sleeve, a sealing ring is placed between the filter sleeve and the enzymatic hydrolysis test tube to prevent air leakage during the filtration process, lift the pressure plate after filtration is completed and take out the tube together, pour the clarified liquid into a cuvette for colorimetric analysis;

[0037] The sliding of the pressure plate is controlled by a program. The stepper motor is started, which drives the screw of the lead screw structure to rotate. The rotation of the screw causes the pressure plate to move downward. After moving a certain distance, the motor stops under the control of the program, and the pressure plate stops moving. The pressure generated by the downward movement of the pressure plate forces the spring to deform downward and continuously pressurize the filter sleeve to filter the enzymatic hydrolysate. After filtration is completed, the program controls the motor to rotate in the reverse direction, so that the pressure plate and the sleeve cover rise back to their original positions.

[0038] Compared with the prior art, the present invention has the following beneficial effects:

[0039] The method of this invention does not involve fermentation experiments. It rapidly detects and judges the filtration performance of malt, which can accurately reflect the filtration performance potential of malt and predict its filtration performance during the brewing process. This allows for quick and accurate judgment of the actual filtration situation in production, improving production efficiency and ensuring beer quality and stability. Attached Figure Description

[0040] To more clearly illustrate the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present invention or the prior art, the drawings used in the description of the embodiments or the prior art will be briefly introduced below. Obviously, the drawings described below are only embodiments of the present invention. For those skilled in the art, other drawings can be obtained based on the provided drawings without creative effort.

[0041] Figure 1 This is a structural diagram of a device for rapidly detecting malt filtration performance according to the present invention;

[0042] Figure 2 This is a structural diagram of the reaction tube in a device for rapidly detecting malt filtration performance according to the present invention;

[0043] Figure 3 This is a reaction tube flowchart of a rapid method for detecting malt filtration performance according to the present invention;

[0044] Figure 4 This is a graph showing the absorbance values ​​of samples from Examples 2-5 of the present invention.

[0045] The components include: 1. Spring fixing rod, 2. Pressure plate, 3. Spring, 4. Sleeve cover, 5. Heater, 6. Slide rail, 7. Screw structure, 8. Filter sleeve, 9. Sealing ring, 10. Microporous filter membrane, 11. Enzyme hydrolysis test tube, and 12. Stepper motor. Detailed Implementation

[0046] The technical solutions in the embodiments of the present invention will be clearly and completely described below. Obviously, the described embodiments are only some embodiments of the present invention, and not all embodiments. Based on the embodiments of the present invention, all other embodiments obtained by those skilled in the art without creative effort are within the scope of protection of the present invention.

[0047] Example 1

[0048] like Figure 1 and 2 A device for rapidly detecting malt filtration performance includes a heater 5, a slide rail 6 perpendicular to the heater is fixedly connected to one side of the bottom of the heater 5, and a slide table is provided on the slide rail 6.

[0049] A pressure plate 2 parallel to the heater 5 is connected to the slide plate. At least one spring fixing rod 1 is fixed on the pressure plate 2. A spring 3 is provided on the spring fixing rod 1. The spring 3 is parallel to the slide rail 6.

[0050] The bottom of the spring fixing rod 1 is detachably connected to the reaction tube; the heater 5 is equipped with a heating groove that matches the reaction tube;

[0051] The slide rail 6 has a lead screw channel in the middle, and slide rails on both sides of the lead screw channel. The lead screw structure 7 is located in the lead screw channel, and both ends of the lead screw structure 7 are fixed to both ends of the lead screw channel. One end of the lead screw structure 7 is connected to the stepper motor 12 through a coupling, and can be driven to rotate by the rotation of the stepper motor 12. The slide table has an internal thread structure that slides in cooperation with the lead screw structure 7. It can slide up and down by rotating the lead screw. The stepper motor 12 is fixed to one end of the heater 5. The slide table is slidably connected to the slide rail, so that the slide table will only move along the slide rail and will not rotate with the lead screw when the lead screw rotates.

[0052] The reaction tube includes a sleeve cap 4 and a tube body that fits the sleeve cap 4. The sleeve cap 4 is connected to the bottom of the spring fixing rod 1.

[0053] The tube body includes a filter sleeve 8 and an enzyme hydrolysis test tube 11, with the enzyme hydrolysis test tube 11 fitted over the outside of the filter sleeve 8;

[0054] The bottom of the filter sleeve 8 is a microporous filter membrane, and a sealing ring 9 is fixedly provided on the test tube wall at the bottom of the filter sleeve 8; the top of the filter sleeve 8 is adapted to the sleeve cap 4.

[0055] The procedure for using the device is as follows: Add the enzyme, distilled water, and crushed malt to the enzymatic hydrolysis tube. Control the pressure plate to lift the sleeve cap and place the tube into the heater. Turn on the programmable heater and raise the temperature to the reaction temperature. After the reaction is complete, raise the temperature to the inactivation temperature. After inactivation, manually press down the pressure plate and filter sleeve for filtration. The clarified liquid is filtered through the microporous filter membrane into the filter sleeve. A sealing ring is placed between the filter sleeve and the enzymatic hydrolysis tube to prevent air leakage during filtration. After filtration, lift the pressure plate and remove the tube together. Pour the clarified liquid into a cuvette for colorimetric analysis.

[0056] The sliding of the pressure plate is controlled by a program. The stepper motor is started, which drives the screw of the lead screw structure to rotate. The rotation of the screw causes the pressure plate to move downward. After moving a certain distance, the motor stops under the control of the program, and the pressure plate stops moving. The pressure generated by the downward movement of the pressure plate forces the spring to deform downward and continuously pressurize the filter sleeve to filter the enzymatic hydrolysate. After filtration is completed, the program controls the motor to rotate in the reverse direction, so that the pressure plate and the sleeve cover rise back to their original positions.

[0057] Example 2

[0058] like Figure 3 A method for rapidly detecting malt filtration performance, using the apparatus of Example 1, includes the following specific steps:

[0059] (1) Light-colored mixed malt (60% French malt + 40% imported malt) was designated as sample A. The malt was pulverized using a Miag DLFU disc pulverizer (disc spacing of 0.2 mm) to obtain fine powder sample A. 1.5 g of the fine powder sample was placed in a 10 mL centrifuge tube, 7.5 mL of distilled water was added, and 1.5 mg of enzyme preparation was added. The mixture was shaken evenly. The enzyme preparation consisted of α-amylase, β-glucanase and neutral protease in a mass ratio of 1:2:1. The mash was kept at 38 °C for 30 min to allow the various enzymes in the malt to fully act and decompose macromolecules. After the incubation period, the mash was kept at 80 °C for 30 min to inactivate the enzymes.

[0060] (2) After cooling the mash to room temperature, filter the mash using a 3μm pore size aqueous filter membrane to obtain the filtrate; measure the absorbance of the filtrate under a UV spectrophotometer (680nm).

[0061] The absorbance of sample A at 680 nm is 0.0395 (see...). Figure 4 Substituting Δ into the formula, the result is Δ = 11.3 > 0.

[0062] Malt filtration performance assessment: △>0 indicates that the filtration performance of the malt is abnormal during production.

[0063] Example 3

[0064] like Figure 3 A method for rapidly detecting malt filtration performance, using the apparatus of Example 1, includes the following specific steps:

[0065] (1) Dark mixed malt (60% French malt + 40% imported malt) was designated as sample B. The malt was pulverized using a Miag DLFU disc pulverizer (disc spacing of 0.2 mm) to obtain fine powder sample B. 1.5 g of the fine powder sample was placed in a 10 mL centrifuge tube, 7.5 mL of distilled water was added, and 1.5 mg of enzyme preparation was added. The mixture was shaken evenly. The enzyme preparation consisted of α-amylase, β-glucanase and neutral protease in a mass ratio of 1:2:1. The mash was kept at 38 °C for 30 min to allow the various enzymes in the malt to fully act and decompose macromolecules. After the incubation period, the mash was kept at 80 °C for 30 min to inactivate the enzymes.

[0066] (2) After the mash is cooled to room temperature, the mash is filtered through a 3μm pore size aqueous filter membrane to obtain filtrate. The absorbance of the filtrate is measured under a UV spectrophotometer (680nm).

[0067] The absorbance of sample B at 680 nm is 0.0416 (see...). Figure 4 Substituting this into the formula, the result is Δ=13.4>0;

[0068] Malt filtration performance assessment: △>0 indicates that the filtration performance of the malt is abnormal during production.

[0069] Example 4

[0070] like Figure 3 A method for rapidly detecting malt filtration performance, using the apparatus of Example 1, includes the following specific steps:

[0071] (1) EBC standard malt was designated as sample C. The malt was pulverized using a Miag DLFU disc pulverizer (disc spacing of 0.2 mm) to obtain fine powder sample C. 1.5 g of the fine powder sample was placed in a 10 mL centrifuge tube, 7.5 mL of distilled water was added, and 1.5 mg of enzyme preparation was added. The mixture was shaken evenly. The enzyme preparation consisted of α-amylase, β-glucanase and neutral protease in a mass ratio of 1:2:1. The mash was kept at 38 °C for 30 min to allow the various enzymes in the malt to fully act and decompose macromolecules. After the incubation period, the mash was kept at 80 °C for 30 min to inactivate the enzymes.

[0072] (2) After the mash is cooled to room temperature, the mash is filtered through a 3μm pore size aqueous filter membrane to obtain filtrate. The absorbance of the filtrate is measured under a UV spectrophotometer (680nm).

[0073] The absorbance of sample C at 680 nm is 0.0282 (see...). Figure 4 Substituting this into the formula, the result is △=0;

[0074] Malt filtration performance assessment: Δ = 0, indicating that the filtration performance of this malt is not abnormal during production.

[0075] Example 5

[0076] like Figure 3 A method for rapidly detecting malt filtration performance, using the apparatus of Example 1, includes the following specific steps:

[0077] (1) The sample D was prepared by grinding malt using a Miag DLFU disc grinder (disc spacing of 0.2 mm) to obtain fine powder sample D. 1.5 g of fine powder sample was placed in a 10 mL centrifuge tube, 7.5 mL of distilled water was added, and 1.5 mg of enzyme preparation was added. The mixture was shaken evenly. The enzyme preparation consisted of α-amylase, β-glucanase and neutral protease in a mass ratio of 1:2:1. The mash was kept at 38 °C for 30 min to allow the various enzymes in the malt to fully act and decompose macromolecules. After the incubation period, the mash was kept at 80 °C for 30 min to inactivate the enzymes.

[0078] (2) After the mash is cooled to room temperature, the mash is filtered through a 3μm pore size aqueous filter membrane to obtain filtrate; the absorbance of the filtrate is measured under a UV spectrophotometer (680nm);

[0079] The absorbance of sample D at 680 nm is 0.0338 (see...). Figure 4 Substituting this into the formula, the result is △=5.6>0;

[0080] Malt filtration performance assessment: △>0 indicates that the filtration performance of the malt is abnormal during production.

[0081] Based on the actual filtration capacity of the filter in a brewery during a single pass, the filtration performance of the four fermentation broth samples was determined to be: Sample C > Sample B > Sample A > Sample D. However, the rapid detection of malt filtration performance yielded the following results: Sample C > Sample B > Sample A > Sample D. Six repeated experiments were conducted, with the RSD consistently below 10%, indicating significant differences between samples. Furthermore, the rapid detection results of malt filtration performance matched the actual filtration performance of the fermentation broth in production (see Table 1), demonstrating the effectiveness of this invention.

[0082] Table 1. Relevant indicators of sample filtration performance

[0083]

[0084] The various embodiments are described in a progressive manner, with each embodiment focusing on the differences from other embodiments. Similar or identical parts between the various embodiments can be referred to each other.

[0085] The above description of the disclosed embodiments enables those skilled in the art to make or use the invention. Various modifications to these embodiments will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art, and the general principles defined herein may be implemented in other embodiments without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention. Therefore, the invention is not to be limited to the embodiments shown herein, but is to be accorded the widest scope consistent with the principles and novel features disclosed herein.

Claims

1. A method for rapidly detecting the filtration performance of malt, characterized in that, The specific steps include the following: (1) Preparation of mash: The crushed malt is enzymatically hydrolyzed and then inactivated to obtain mash; (2) After filtering the mash, the absorbance value was measured at 650-700 nm using an ultraviolet spectrophotometer to determine the filtration performance; The enzymatic hydrolysis conditions in step (1) are: incubation at 38-50˚C for 22-38 min; the mass ratio of enzyme to malt in the enzymatic hydrolysis is 1:1000; the enzymes include α-amylase, β-glucanase and neutral protease, with mass ratios of 1:2:1, 1:1:1, and 3:2:

1. The device used in the method includes a heater, and a slide rail perpendicular to the heater is fixedly connected to one side of the bottom of the heater. A slide table is provided on the slide rail. A pressure plate parallel to the heater is connected to the slide plate. At least one spring fixing rod is fixed on the pressure plate. A spring is provided on the spring fixing rod. The spring is parallel to the slide rail. The pressure generated by the downward movement of the pressure plate forces the spring to deform downward and continuously pressurize the filter sleeve of the reaction test tube, thereby filtering the mash. The bottom of the spring fixing rod is connected to the reaction tube; the heater is provided with a heating groove that matches the reaction tube; The reaction tube includes a sleeve cap and a tube body adapted to the sleeve cap, the sleeve cap being connected to the bottom of the spring fixing rod; the tube body includes a filter sleeve and an enzymatic hydrolysis tube, the enzymatic hydrolysis tube being sleeved outside the filter sleeve; the bottom of the filter sleeve is a microporous filter membrane, and a sealing ring is fixedly provided on the tube wall at the bottom of the filter sleeve; the top of the filter sleeve is adapted to the sleeve cap.

2. The method for rapidly detecting malt filtration performance according to claim 1, characterized in that, Five times the mass of water is added to the enzymatic hydrolysis of the malt in step (1).

3. The method for rapidly detecting malt filtration performance according to claim 1, characterized in that, The inactivation conditions described in step (1) are to keep warm at 80-100˚C for 30 minutes.

4. The method for rapidly detecting malt filtration performance according to claim 1, characterized in that, In step (2), the filtration is carried out using a water-based filter membrane with a pore size of 3 μm; the absorbance value is measured at 650-700 nm using an ultraviolet spectrophotometer.

5. The method for rapidly detecting malt filtration performance according to claim 1, characterized in that, The method for judging the filtration performance in step (2) is as follows: EBC standard malt is set as the standard malt for this test method. According to the formula, if Δ>0, the malt's filtration performance is abnormal; if Δ≤0, the malt's filtration performance is normal. The formula is: △ = (sample absorbance - EBC standard malt absorbance) × 1000.

6. The method for rapidly detecting malt filtration performance according to claim 1, characterized in that, The slide rail has a lead screw channel in the middle, and slide rails on both sides of the lead screw channel. The lead screw structure is located in the lead screw channel, and the two ends of the lead screw structure are fixed to the two ends of the lead screw channel. One end of the lead screw structure is connected to the stepper motor through a coupling. The slide has an internal thread structure that slides in conjunction with the lead screw structure. The stepper motor is fixed to one end of the heater; The slide table is slidably connected to the slide rail.

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