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bioRxiv · 10.1101/2025.03.26.645420

Whats left from the brew? Investigating residual barley proteins in spent grains for downstream valorization opportunities

Gregersen Echers, S.·Mikkelsen, R. K.·Abdul-Khalek, N.·Queiroz, L. S.·Hobley, T. J.·Schulz, B. L.·Overgaard, M. T.·Jacobsen, C.·Yesiltas, B.
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Abstract

Brewers spent grain (BSG) is the major side-stream from beer production but remains highly underutilized. While the direct use of BSG as a food ingredient is limited due to subpar techno- functionality, the vast amounts and fairly high protein content of up to 30% makes it a high potential source for production of protein-based ingredient by valorization through e.g. enzymatic hydrolysis. However, little attention has been put towards the protein-level composition of BSG, which is essential for developing hydrolysis strategies for improving functionality in a targeted manner. Here, we present an in-depth characterization of the BSG proteome and investigate dynamic proteome changes from malting and mashing in the initial phases of beer production. We show dynamic and selective changes in the proteome across the different process steps, where 29% of reproducibly identified proteins display differential abundance. BSG represents a significantly higher proportion of intracellular protein compared to both barley and malt and has a nutritionally favorable amino acid composition. The major constituent of the BSG proteome is B3-Hordein, constituting more than 30% of the BSG protein. Moreover, we find that a large proportion (> 45%) of the BSG protein is associated with potential food safety concerns, being classified as potential allergens and antinutritional factors. Our analysis emphasizes the need for downstream processing of BSG to produce safe and functional food ingredients, while also providing protein-level insights for development of targeted hydrolysis strategies to achieve this. HighlightsO_LIAn optimized sample preparation for proteomics analysis has been developed C_LIO_LI29% of barley proteins are differentially abundant across malting and mashing C_LIO_LIB3-Hordein is the major protein in BSG with an abundance over 30% C_LIO_LIBSG contains a high content of potential allergenic and antinutritional proteins C_LIO_LIA protein-level basis for targeted downstream processing of BSG is presented C_LI

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Gregersen Echers, S., Mikkelsen, R. K., Abdul-Khalek, N., Queiroz, L. S., Hobley, T. J., Schulz, B. L., Overgaard, M. T., Jacobsen, C., Yesiltas, B.. 2025-03-27. Whats left from the brew? Investigating residual barley proteins in spent grains for downstream valorization opportunities. https://doi.org/10.1101/2025.03.26.645420

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