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Viscosity Concerns with Rye Mashes Used for Ethanol Production

¹Department of Applied Microbiology and Food Science, University of Saskatchewan, 51 Campus Drive, Saskatoon, SK S7N 5A8. ²Corresponding author. Phone: 306/966-5028. Fax: 306/966-8898. E-mail: ingledew@sask.usask.ca ³Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, Semiarid Prairie Agricultural Research Center, P.O. Box 1030, Swift Current SK S9H 3X2

Rye cultivars leading to high-viscosity extracts were easily mashed— even under very high gravity (VHG) conditions—when enzymes were added to reduce viscosity caused by pentosans. The enzymes were so effective that for the fuel alcohol industry, the need for special genetic selections of rye with reduced extract viscosity was not indicated. High-starch cultivars of rye, however, were still most beneficial when alcohol was the end product of value. Both normal and VHG mashes fermented out within 48 hr under the conditions described. Yields (L/t of starch) were, on average, 5.3% higher under VHG conditions than under normal gravity.