Search Results (14)

Atopic dermatitis (AD) and food allergy frequently coexist during early childhood and are increasingly linked through interactions within the gut–skin axis. We evaluated the clinical outcomes of an integrated nutritional and microbiome-oriented management strategy in children with food allergy-associated AD under real-world conditions. This prospective, two-center, real-world observational cohort study included 85 children (median age, 11 months) with AD diagnosed according to the Hanifin–Rajka criteria and confirmed IgE- and/or non-IgE-mediated food allergy. Participants received individualized nutritional and microbiome-oriented management comprising elimination diets, conventional topical therapy, microbiome-directed interventions, and nutritional supplementation tailored to their clinical, allergological, and microbiological profile. Disease severity was assessed using the Scoring Atopic Dermatitis (SCORAD) index at baseline and after approximately 1 and 3 months of follow-up. Cow’s milk, egg, and wheat were the predominant food allergens, and 69.4% of children were polyallergic. SCORAD decreased significantly during follow-up, with a mean relative reduction of 51.6% and 63.5% of participants achieving a SCORAD50 response. Food allergy burden independently predicted baseline disease severity, whereas documented gut dysbiosis was associated with polyallergy and greater absolute clinical improvement, although this association lost statistical significance after adjustment for baseline disease severity and should therefore not be interpreted as a favorable prognostic effect of dysbiosis. Baseline SCORAD remained the strongest independent predictor of clinical improvement. Integrated nutritional and microbiome-oriented management was associated with substantial clinical improvement and may represent a valuable adjunct to standard care in children with food allergy-associated AD. Because of the observational, uncontrolled design, these findings describe associations rather than causal treatment effects. These findings support further evaluation of personalized nutritional strategies in randomized controlled trials. Full article

Despite recent biotechnological advancements in the brewing industry, the effective valorization of spent grains from craft beer production remains challenging due to the nutritional variability of cereal-based raw materials. This study analyzes the proteins, free amino acids, fatty acids, and mineral composition of spent grains obtained from two beer types brewed with different proportions of maize grits and malted wheat, in order to assess the influence of adjunct composition. Protein content ranged between 25.81% and 28.43%, with higher values observed in the wheat-based spent grain. Total free amino acids were also higher in the wheat-based sample (190.03 mg/100 g) compared to the maize-based variant (178.66 mg/100 g). Both samples showed a similar fatty acid profile dominated by linoleic acid (51.39–51.58%), while phosphorus was the predominant mineral (up to 2700.03 mg/kg). These results suggest that adjunct type influences the nutritional characteristics of spent grains and provide a basis for their differentiated valorization in sustainable agri-food systems. Full article

Non-coeliac wheat sensitivity (NCWS) is characterised by gastrointestinal and extra-intestinal symptoms following gluten/wheat ingestion in individuals without coeliac disease or wheat allergy but remains controversial due to symptom overlap with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). This narrative review aims to provide a comprehensive, critical analysis of NCWS as a clinical and biological entity, examining the evidence for its distinction from related disorders. While self-reported rates are high (often >10%) in the general population, rigorous double-blind, placebo-controlled challenge (DBPCC) studies confirm the diagnosis in only a minority of cases (typically <30%). The clinical presentation is heterogeneous, combining IBS-like symptoms with systemic complaints such as “brain fog,” headaches, and fatigue. The pathophysiology is distinct from coeliac disease, involving innate immune activation, altered intestinal barrier function, and gut dysbiosis. Non-gluten wheat components, particularly fructans and amylase-trypsin inhibitors, are implicated as potential triggers. Diagnosis is challenging, requiring the exclusion of other disorders and adherence to complex dietary challenge protocols such as the Salerno Experts’ Criteria, which are impractical for routine clinical use. The search for validated biomarkers is a key research area and investigated candidates include serological markers such as IgG anti-gliadin antibodies, inflammatory markers such as faecal calprotectin, and proteins related to intestinal permeability such as zonulin, but results have been conflicting and require further validation. Management primarily involves elimination of wheat and gluten from the diet, although a low-FODMAP diet has also proven effective as an adjunctive treatment. In conclusion, NCWS is a clinical entity whose study and management are critically hampered by the absence of validated diagnostic criteria and biomarkers. Progress requires methodologically rigorous DBPCC trials to elucidate its mechanisms and develop reliable diagnostic tools. Full article

Beer is one of the most widely consumed alcoholic beverages worldwide, whereas surplus bread constitutes a significant environmental burden; repurposing this bread as a brewing adjunct offers a sustainable mitigation strategy. In this study, we replaced 50% of the malt grist in American Lager, India Pale Ale and Bavarian Weiss with stale whole wheat bread, brewed each beer and its malt control in duplicate, and stored them for 12 months at 15 °C. Bread addition raised turbidity and soluble protein at bottling; however, after 12 months, the bread lagers clarified to 101 NTU while the controls stayed above 600 NTU. Alcohol content, pH and titratable acidity were unaffected. All bread beers retained more total polyphenols and showed stronger DPPH radical-scavenging activity than controls, especially in lager and IPA. Lactobacillus (<100 CFU mL⁻¹) and Enterobacteriaceae (<10 CFU mL⁻¹) remained below detection limits in bread samples, whereas the malt-only Weiss displayed Lactobacillus spoilage. Sensory panels noted fuller body, livelier carbonation and enhanced toasted-malt aroma in bread beers, with no sensory off-flavour defects detected. Repurposing surplus bread therefore improves clarity, preserves bioactive compounds and yields distinctive, shelf-stable beers while advancing circular-economy goals. Full article

Wasted bread (WB) has been studied as an alternative ingredient for increasing the sustainable footprint in the beer production chain. There are gaps in the literature on the impact of WB on beer manufacturing. Thus, the objective was to evaluate the addition of WB as a replacement for wheat flakes in a craft beer. Three formulations with different concentrations of WB were produced and monitored for glucose and maltose concentrations in the mash; the beer was analyzed for ethanol, glycerol, acetic acid, lactic acid, pH, acidity, turbidity, color, and volatile compounds. Sensory analysis was performed by a trained panel. In the initial stages of mashing, a higher concentration of sugars was found in the wort with WB added, while, at the end stages, this was higher in the control wort. The addition of WB resulted in beers with a lower turbidity, darker color, and lower concentrations of ethanol, glycerol, and acetic acid. Among the volatile compounds, D-limonene, ethyl dodecanoate, heptanol, acetaldehyde, and ethyl acetate should be further explored as markers for the presence of WB. Higher intensities of banana odor and flavors were observed by the trained panel when there was a greater substitution of wheat flakes. WB is a low-cost and effective ingredient for beer production, although more work is needed for its large-scale use. Full article

The main objective of this experiment was to investigate the technological potential of upcycling unsparged non-conventional brewers’ spent grains (BSGs) in bread-making and assess the comparative quality of bread enriched with non-fermented and lactic acid-fermented BSGs obtained from mashes brewed with starch adjuncts of buckwheat and oats. After the runoff of the first wort, unsparged non-conventional BSGs with approximately 75% moisture, acidic pH, and yield in the soluble extract above 56.6% (w/w d.m.) were used in substituting wheat flour with 5 and 15% (w/w d.m.) in bread-making recipes. The highest loaf volume value (318.68 cm³/100 g) was observed for 5% fermented buckwheat-BSG addition. Except for the samples with 5% fermented BSGs, specific volumes decreased. Crumb moisture was reduced by up to 22% for all samples, with this parameter related to bread weight. Bread porosity, elasticity, acidity, and overall sensory acceptability were better for fermented than non-fermented BSGs. The results proved that non-conventional BSGs with buckwheat and oats addition have the potential to be valorized in new bread assortments, and lactic acid fermentation applied to the BSGs is beneficial, even for overall sensory acceptability and quality of baked end-products. Technological, buckwheat-BSG was more convenient than oats-BSG. Further research continues to optimize and upscale Technology Readiness Levels. Full article

Triticale grain, a wheat–rye hybrid, has been reported to comply very well with the requirements for modern brewing adjuncts. In this study, two triticale varieties, in both unmalted and malted forms, were investigated at various ratios in the grist, applying different mashing regimes and concentrations of the commercial enzyme Shearzyme^® 500 L with the aim of evaluating their impact on wort production. In order to capture the complex relationships between the input (triticale ratio, enzyme ratio, mashing regime, and triticale variety) and output variables (wort extract content, wort viscosity, and free amino nitrogen (FAN) content in wort), the study aimed to implement the use of artificial neural networks (ANNs) to model the mashing process. Also, a genetic algorithm (GA) was integrated to minimize a specified multi-objective function, optimizing the mashing process represented by the ANN model. Among the solutions on the Pareto front, one notable set of solutions was found with objective function values of 0.0949, 0.0131, and 1.6812 for the three conflicting objectives, respectively. These values represent a trade-off that optimally balances the different aspects of the optimization problem. The optimized input variables had values of 23%, 9%, 1, and 3 for the respective input variables of triticale ratio, enzyme ratio, mashing regime, and triticale variety. The results derived from the ANN model, applying the GA-optimized input values, were 8.65% w/w for wort extract content, 1.52 mPa·s for wort viscosity, and 148.32 mg/L for FAN content in wort. Comparatively, the results conducted from the real laboratory mashing were 8.63% w/w for wort extract content, 1.51 mPa·s for wort viscosity, and 148.88 mg/L for FAN content in wort applying same input values. The presented data from the optimization process using the GA and the subsequent experimental verification on the real mashing process have demonstrated the practical applicability of the proposed approach which confirms the potential to enhance the quality and efficiency of triticale wort production. Full article

Consumers are more than ever in search of novel and exciting beer choices, and brewers are, therefore, continuously experimenting to adapt their product portfolio. One interesting way to naturally incorporate novel flavors and tastes is by using alternative adjuncts, but this is not always an easy and straightforward process. In this study, a 40% unmalted alternative adjunct (einkorn, emmer, spelt, khorasan, quinoa, amaranth, buckwheat, sorghum, teff, and tritordeum) or reference (barley malt, unmalted barley, and unmalted wheat) was added to 60% barley malt, after which three different laboratory mashing processes (Congress mash, Congress mash with pre-gelatinization of the adjunct, and Evans mash) were performed, and their behavior during mashing and the resulting wort characteristics were investigated in detail. Overall, the extraction process of all 10 unmalted alternative adjuncts was not complete for all three laboratory mashing processes, whereby Congress mashing resulted in the highest extract and fastest filtration, whereas Evans mashing resulted in the lowest extract and slowest filtration. Pre-gelatinization of the unmalted was generally only beneficial for adjuncts with high onset starch gelatinization temperatures. This process also inactivated endogenous enzymes in the unmalted adjuncts, which had an adverse effect on the mashing process. Full article

Wheat is extensively utilized in various processed foods due to unique proteins forming from the gluten network. The gluten network in food undergoes morphological and molecular structural changes during food processing, affecting the final quality and digestibility of the food. The present review introduces the formation of the gluten network and the role of gluten in the key steps of the production of several typical food products such as bread, pasta, and beer. Also, it summarizes the factors that affect the digestibility of gluten, considering that different processing conditions probably affect its structure and properties, contributing to an in-depth understanding of the digestion of gluten by the human body under various circumstances. Nevertheless, consumption of gluten protein may lead to the development of celiac disease (CD). The best way is theoretically proposed to prevent and treat CD by the inducement of oral tolerance, an immune non-response system formed by the interaction of oral food antigens with the intestinal immune system. This review proposes the restoration of oral tolerance in CD patients through adjunctive dietary therapy via gluten-encapsulated/modified dietary polyphenols. It will reduce the dietary restriction of gluten and help patients achieve a comprehensive dietary intake by better understanding the interactions between gluten and food-derived active products like polyphenols. Full article

One of the earliest biotechnological processes is brewing, which uses conventional raw materials like barley malt and, to a lesser extent, wheat malt. Today, adjuncts are used in the brewing of 85–90% of the world’s beer, with significant regional differences. The results of this study’s brewing were compared to those of beer made only from malted barley. Malted and unmalted sorghum were suggested for use in this study’s brewing. In order to improve the technical mashing operation and raise output yield, commercial enzymes were introduced. The following physicochemical analyses of the finished beer were carried out in accordance with regulatory requirements: original extract (% m/m), apparent extract (% m/m), alcohol content (% v/v, % m/m), density (g/cm³), turbidity (EBC), pH, color (EBC), bitterness value (IBU), oxygen content (mg/L), carbon dioxide content (g/L). A nine-point hedonic scale was used to conduct the sensory evaluation of the beer samples. Sorghum was easily included into the technological process to create a finished product that, in many ways, resembled traditional beer, making sorghum appropriate for typical beer drinkers. The laboratory brewing formula that produced the highest-quality results of all the tested variants included 60% sorghum malt and 40% unmalted sorghum: original extract 11.26% m/m, apparent extract 4.59% m/m, alcohol content 4.12% v/v, turbidity 0.74 EBC, CO₂ content 5.10 g/L. The resulting sorghum beer typically has low alcohol content, a complex, aromatic, slightly sour flavor, a mild bitter or astringent sensation, and less stable foam. Full article

Background: The present article considers the influence of malt with various adjuncts on beer organic compounds and taste profile composition, with more attention paid to the phenol complex change. The topic under consideration is relevant since it studies the interactions of phenolic compounds with other biomolecules, and expands the understanding of the adjuncts organic compounds contribution and their joint effect on beer quality. Methods: Samples of beer were analyzed at a pilot brewery using barley and wheat malts, barley, rice, corn and wheat, and then fermented. The beer samples were assessed by industry-accepted methods and using instrumental analysis methods (high-performance liquid chromatography methods—HPLC). The obtained statistical data were processed by the Statistics program (Microsoft Corporation, Redmond, WA, USA, 2006). Results: The study showed that at the stage of hopped wort organic compounds structure formation, there is a clear correlation between the content of organic compounds and dry substances, including phenolic compounds (quercetin, catechins), as well as isomerized hop bitter resines. It is shown that the riboflavin content increases in all adjunct wort samples, and mostly with the use of rice—up to 4.33 mg/L, which is 9.4 times higher than the vitamin levels in malt wort. The melanoidin content in the samples was in the range of 125–225 mg/L and its levels in the wort with additives exceeded the malt wort. Changes in β-glucan and nitrogen with thiol groups during fermentation occurred with different dynamics and depending on the adjunct’s proteome. The greatest decrease in non-starch polysaccharide content was observed in wheat beer and nitrogen with thiol groups content—in all other beer samples. The change in iso-α-humulone in all samples at the beginning of fermentation correlated with a decrease in original extract, and in the finished beer there was no correlation. The behavior of catechins, quercetin, and iso-α-humulone has been shown to correlate with nitrogen with thiol groups during fermentation. A strong correlation was shown between the change in iso-α-humulone and catechins, as well as riboflavin and quercetin. It was established that various phenolic compounds were involved in the formation of taste, structure, and antioxidant properties of beer in accordance with the structure of various grains, depending on the structure of its proteome. Conclusions: The obtained experimental and mathematical dependences make it possible to expand the understanding of intermolecular interactions of beer organic compounds and take a step toward predicting the quality of beer at the stage of using adjuncts. Full article

In the current study, probiotic Lacticaseibacillus paracasei KC39 was immobilized on wheat bran as a carrier. The immobilized synbiotic biocatalyst was freeze-dried and used as an adjunct during the production of functional soft white cheese. Free freeze-dried Lc. paracasei cells as an adjunct and a control cheese with a commercial starter were used for comparison. In addition to a fiber content of 1.12%, the functional cheese made using the synbiotic biocatalyst showed higher cell viabilities in the gastric and intestinal phases as well as an enhanced microstructure and favorable sensory characteristics. The presented immobilization method could be applied to the production of soft cheese and other functional food products for the stabilized delivery of both probiotics and dietary fibers. Full article

In brewing, the use of cereals (wheat, barley, maize, rice, sorghum, oats, rye or millet), pseudo-cereals (buckwheat, quinoa or amaranth) and tubers (sweet potato), as starch adjuncts, is being promoted for the production of a variety of high-quality beers, from sensory and nutritional points of view. The sensory properties of the obtained beer depend on the characteristics of each adjunct but also on the forms in which the adjunct is added: whole cereal, grits, malted, extruded grains, torrefied and syrup. Among these common forms, the extruded grains (maize or rice) produce a higher content of aroma compounds in beer. From a nutritional point of view, the use of non-conventional starch adjuncts, such as black rice, buckwheat or sweet potato, leads to an increase in the polyphenol content of the beer, and thus, its antioxidant capacity. Cereals such as maize, rice, sorghum or millet are the most promising for the production of gluten-free beers. A close relationship can be developed between the use of adjuncts in the beer industry and the use of commercial enzymes. Advances made by biotechnology to design new enzymes with different functionalities could be associated to a future increase in adjunct usage in brewing. Full article

Brewing with unmalted cereal adjuncts can reduce the requirement for malting, thereby lowering costs and improving the overall sustainability of the brewing chain. However, substantial adjunct usage has technological challenges and the sensory characteristics of beers produced using high adjunct rates are still not fully understood. This study examined the impacts of brewing with unmalted barley, wheat, rice and maize at relatively high concentrations (0, 30% and 60% of grist) on the sensorial and analytical profiles of lager beer. Adjunct based beers and a 100% malt control were brewed at 25 L scale. A trained sensory panel (n = 8) developed a lexicon and determined the sensorial profile of beers. At 30% adjunct incorporation there was insignificant variation in the expected beer flavour profile. At 60% adjunct incorporation, there were some significant sensory differences between beers which were specific to particular adjunct materials. Furthermore, 60% adjunct inclusion (with correspondingly low wort FAN) impacted the fermentation volatile profile of the final beers which corresponded with findings observed in the sensory analysis. Developing an understanding of adjunct-induced flavour differences and determining strategies to minimise these differences will facilitate the implementation of cost-efficient and sustainable grist solutions. Full article