SODIUM SELENITE AS AN INTENSIFIER IN THE MALTING OF BREWING BARLEY

Abstract

There is little scientific data on the use of sodium selenite, a mineral form of selenium, as an intensifier of malting. Therefore, this work is aimed at investigating the possibility of using sodium selenite in accelerating the malting process. To this end, barley of the Acha variety was soaked in an aqueous sodium selenite solution. The malt was obtained using the air-irrigation soaking method, with the barley being germinated in a laboratory-based malting plant. During the experiment, the degree of soaking and the temperature of the grain layer were varied. Under various conditions of barley soaking and germination, the maximum amylolytic activity of the malt was observed on the 4^th day of germination. The addition of sodium selenite led to the accumulation of amylases on the 3^rd day of germination. Based on the experimental data and mathematical modelling, the maximum amylolytic activity of the malt, when a sodium selenite aqueous solution with a concentration of 0.033 mg / l was used, was established. The amylolytic activity of the malt obtained by soaking barley grain with sodium selenite was shown to be 1.5 times higher than that in the reference sample. Thus, our studies have shown that sodium selenite can be used as an intensifier of the malting process.