COMPOSITION AND NUTRITIOUS PROPERTIES OF THE BEER

Composition.

The great variety of beers that exist does not allow to offer simple data and homogenous on what it is his composition. Therefore, he is not either simple to realize a common analysis of his nutritious properties. Nevertheless, we make next a study detailed of the different beers and their components, (Souci 1989, Salvini 1998, Favier 1995).

We can classify these components in volatile and nonvolatile. First they are those that form mainly in the fermentation, within which we can include the alcohol, you cover with mats, aldehydes, ketones, etc. Really, is produced organic compounds in the fermentation process.

The rest, we included that them within the nonvolatile ones, is formed by different compound types from that we can classify in:

Inorganic compounds

that usually they get to have a concentration of 0.5 to 2 grams by liter. The majority comes to begin with from the raw materials, especially of the malteada barley and the cereals that are used in the process of an additional way, but the fermentation process changes the percentage and we have in the beers appear to us, by each 100 milliliters of beer:

Also other inorganic components exist as the copper, manganese, zinc, iron… but in smaller amounts reason why we do not repair in them.

Organic components

The most outstanding components are:

The carbohydrates, whose content percent ml fluctuate between 2,8 and 2,9 grams percent ml according to the type of beer, appearing in the composition from simple sugars like ribosa, xylose, arabinose, glucose, fructose or galactosa, to disacáridos of the type maltose, isomaltosa, mainly, and other polysaccharides like beta-glucanos that comes from the cell wall of endospermo of the barley grain.

Nitrogen components, that appear in the form of proteins and of products derived from them like the polypeptides small and amino acids. The average content for each type of beer is of 0,4 g for the dark denominated ones, 0,5 g for the blondes and 0,25 g for the clear ones.

Phenolic compounds that appear in 35 amounts from 15 to mg/100 ml; a part is volatile but the majority is polifenoles nonvolatile.

Ethylic alcohol, that takes place in the fermentation, along with carbon dioxide at the rate of a gram of alcohol by each 1.6 grams of hydrocarbon substrate. The proportions in the different 3.5 beers that appear to us are g/100ml in the darks, 3.61 g/100 ml in blondes and 3.53 g/100 ml in the clear ones.

Vitamins within which, we can mention that they appear in the beers, always in small amounts some of most significant of the water soluble ones, being able to see in the following table his quantification by each 100 ml:

Other compounds that appear in the beers are acid organic like the málico, lactic, oxalic, succinico, fumárico, glicólico, pirúvico citrus, etc that has importance, if nonquantitative yes for the characteristics of flavor and stability of the beer.

Also they appear compound like tiramina histamina and in amounts that oscillate between 1.2 mg/100 ml for the dark and blond beers (as far as tiramina) and of Or, 6 to 0.46 mg/100 ml (in histamina) for clear blondes and respectively. These substances have an evident interest by their physiological effects.

Nutritious properties of the beer

We are going to review the nutritional characteristics of the beer, stressing as well some of the main physiological effects that could be derived.

Water has an average content, according to the different beers, of around 92 grams of water by each 100 ml being its caloric value of around 40-45 kcal/100 ml. This represents a proportion of around 2:1 that is highly interesting along with the fast absorption of the water molecules which they do possible the one that the thirst calms quickly.

Power value that varies from the 38 Kcal of the blonde to 45 of the dark, which turns out to be, in front of other mainly sweetened drinks, a discreet caloric content.

Minerals, of which it contains interesting amounts. Thus, if we spoke of content by liter of beer:

• From potassium it gets to cover a 20% with the daily needs.
• From magnesium it can arrive at 45% of the daily needs.
• From the phosphorus it can arrive at 40% of the daily needs.

Sodium is really low, reason why in hyposodium diets it can be a drink to consider. Indeed its relation potassium/sodium is what it makes him be so diurética.

Vitamins, are present on all those of group B always in low amounts that, nevertheless, can be relatively important in case of lifted ingestions of beer. Thus, in case of ingestion of 1 liter of beer it would be possible to be gotten to cover some percentage with needs like the following:

• From pantoténico acid they are possible to be gotten to cover 20% with the daily needs
• From B6 vitamin it is possible to be arrived at 25% of the daily needs
• From riboflavin we can arrive at 20% of the daily needs
• From B1 vitamin they are possible to be arrived at 5% of the daily needs
• From biotin they are possible to be gotten to cover 5% with the daily needs
• Also of other vitamins, like folic acid already treaty in numerous preceding works, appears interesting amounts.

Polifenoles, exists in remarkable amounts. Their physiological actions can be implied in different processes related to the health. Its possible preventive paper before the appearance of certain types of cancer or even of cardiovascular diseases, causes that these compounds are at the moment being studied very thoroughly.

Bitter matters, that aside from their important participation in the flavor and the palatabilidad, confer a slight sedative action to him, bacteriostatic, digestive, etc.

Volatile alcohol and other substances, we remember that the blood level of alcohol is smaller with the beer than with other spirits since the content is noticeably smaller, at least in beers of high consumption by the population. The oxidation of the ethanol of the beer is twice more express than the one of the wine and seven times faster than the one of the Whiskey.

In addition more stop has a diurético effect than the water and owns stimulating actions on the operation of the liver; in addition it stimulates the bile production.

It is necessary to mention, to conclude, the problematic substances that the beer owns. Among them, perhaps most important they are the biógenas amines: the tiramina and the histamina, mainly, by the possible allergic reactions that they can give, but in any case the content of the beer in these compounds is extremely small.