Uso da microalga Chlorella vulgaris como aditivo na produção de uma cerveja artesanal de alta fermentação

Abstract

The growth of craft beer market and its search for news flavors and aromas, aligned with the expansion of the natural and health food market, started new discussion about ingredients that are used for brewing. Seeking to innovate in this segment, the brewing sector has invested in research into nutritionally rich foods from natural sources, brewing new products with attractive functional properties to the consumers. One of the promising sources for this purpose is microalgae a natural supplier of active compounds with high nutritional value and important therapeutic effects. Among microalgae, we highlight Chlorella vulgaris, a Generally Recognized As Safe (GRAS) species, approved for human consumption and rich in proteins and antioxidant compounds. Therefore, the present work aimed to develop a high-fermentation craft beer using Chlorella vulgaris microalgae extract as an additive. The microalgal extract was produced with biomass grown in an autotrophic medium, submitted to physical lysis processes (freezing + thawing +

ultrasound). To evaluate the use of microalgae as a brewing additive, two high fermentation craft beers (Ale style) were produced, one without the addition of the extract and the other with the addition of the microalgae extract. The kinetics of the fermentation process and the physicochemical characteristics (pH, color, bitterness, alcohol content) of the two formulations were evaluated and compared. Then, the free radical scavenging capacity of the microalgae extract and both beers, the control and additive beer, were evaluated by the DPPH test. The results showed that the addition of microalgal extract in the beer formulation was not able to influence the fermentation kinetics of the process. The addition of microalgae extract in the process produced greenish-colored beers, with antioxidant activity superior to that found in non-additivated beer, with physicochemical characteristics similar to those of the control beer and within the range determined by the Beer Judge Certification Program (BJCP) for the chosen beer style. With the results, it is possible to determine that it is feasible to produce a functional beer with the addition of microalgae.