Taste-active Components of Beers from Emmer Wheat (Triticum dicoccum) Malt

Emmer wheat (EW, Triticum dicoccum) grows under adverse climatic and soil conditions in the hilly areas of Italy and other temperate regions. So far, EW has been used for pasta or bakery products. The malt obtained from EW was used to produce a light beer, a double malt beer, and beers with 50% (B50) and 30% (B30) EW malt combined with barley malt. These top-fermented beers showed a sweet, fruity, citrus character. The different sensory impact and chemical composition (betaglucans and flavanoids) of the beers was related to the germinative energy of EW and the different proportions of malted EW and barley malt. The light beer combines the moderate alcohol (3% vol.) with a good intake of natural antioxidants (total phenolic content, TPC, 85 mg l-1), whereas B50 showed a high TPC (109 mg l-1) and the highest beta-glucan content (27 mg l-1).