Previous studies revealed that proso millet has the potential to be malted and subsequently used for the production of gluten-free beverages. In addition to its suitability for brewing, good availability in central Europe is a beneficial feature for its implementation as a food ingredient. In the present study, 24 varieties (2005 harvest) were malted using an optimized proso millet making regimen. The resulting malt was analyzed using a series of malt quality attributes, including water content, extract, saccharification time, filtration rate, apparent attenuation limit, alpha-amylase activity, beta-amylase activity, limit dextrinase activity, gelatinization temperature, protein content, soluble nitrogen, Kolbach index, alpha-amino nitrogen, color, pH, and viscosity. The attributes of all varieties analyzed showed a broad range of results, with significant dependence on the pros millet variety. Most of these results correlated well with reported barley and sorghum malt data. The extract recovery for all varieties was clearly less than 64% due to high cell wall content and lower alpha- and beta-amylase activity. Although the amylolytic enzymes differed from barley and had low alpha- and beta-amylase and very high limit dextrinase activities, the apparent attenuation limit was comparable to values for barley malt. Due to the Congress mashing regimen used and gelatinization temperatures that were higher than the final temperature rest, the true limit of apparent attenuation was not fully achieved. The real potential must be evaluated using a modified mashing regimen specific for proso millet. The total nitrogen content for all varieties was within the desirable range. However, protein solubility and calculated Kolbach indices were significantly dependent on proso millet variety. Although they were lower than the mean barley malt values, the Kolbach indices were comparable to those for sorghum malts. Free amino nitrogen, color, and pH correlated well with barley and sorghum malts, with significant differences among the proso millet varieties. Significant variety dependence was also found for the viscosity of proso millet malt wort, which correlated well with gelatinization temperature and extract. Detailed analyses of the data revealed that proso millet variety Braune Wildform had the best attributes for brewing purposes. More importantly, good availability in central Europe, coupled with desirable results obtained for all malt quality attributes, make this variety suitable as an ingredient for malting and fermentation.     «

Previous studies revealed that proso millet has the potential to be malted and subsequently used for the production of gluten-free beverages. In addition to its suitability for brewing, good availability in central Europe is a beneficial feature for its implementation as a food ingredient. In the present study, 24 varieties (2005 harvest) were malted using an optimized proso millet making regimen. The resulting malt was analyzed using a series of malt quality attributes, including water content,...     »