Study on the γ-Aminobutyric Acid（GABA） in Highland Barley Monascus Beer

Abstract:

γ-Aminobutyric acid（GABA） is a non-protein amino acid which possesses important physiological functions such as antihypertensive effect. Though its application in the food industry was widely investigated，the research in the beer industry was rare. In this study，the content of GABA in beers on the present market usually ranged from 40 to 65 mg/L while this value reached 91.3±6.9 mg/L in the highland barley Monascus beer. The GABA contents in wort were characterized in mashing and fermentation. The results showed that the GABA content grow at the beginning of the mashing and gradually flatten. The ratio for highland barley and barley malt obviously affect the GABA content. The content of GABA increased by adding the highland barley Monascus. During the whole fermentation process，10.7% of GABA was lost.