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Brewing Performance of Malted Lipoxygenase-1 Null Barley and Effect on the Flavor Stability of Beer

¹Bioresources Research and Development Laboratories, Sapporo Breweries, Ltd., 37-1 Nitta-Kizaki, Ota, Gunma 370-0393, Japan. ²Corresponding author. Phone: +81276561455. Fax: +81276561605. E-mail: naohiko.hirota@sapporobeer.co.jp ³Frontier Laboratories of Value Creation, Sapporo Breweries, Ltd., 10 Okatome, Yaizu, Shizuoka 425-0013, Japan. ⁴Production & Technology Development Center, Sapporo Breweries, Ltd., 10 Okatome, Yaizu, Shizuoka 425-0013, Japan. ⁵Research Institute for Bioresources, Okayama University, 2-20-1 Chuo, Kurashiki, Okayama 710-0046, Japan.

We examined the malting and brewing performances of a lipoxygenase-1 (LOX-1) null line of barley (Hordeum vulgare L.). The LOX-normal malt and the LOX-null malt were prepared from F₄ populations derived from a single cross. We could not observe any major differences in the general malt characteristics between the two malts. A brewing trial was performed using these malts. The analysis of the wort and beer revealed that the absence of LOX-1 had little effect on the general characteristics of the wort and beer. In contrast, beer made from the LOX-null malt showed reduced levels of beer-deteriorating substances, trans-2-nonenal (T2N), and trihydroxyoctadecenoic acid (THOD). In the sensory evaluation, well-trained panel members recognized the significant superiority of the aged LOX-null beer in terms of staleness. These results show that the LOX-1 null barley line can be effectively used to improve the flavor stability of beer without changing the other important beer qualities.