Despite being the third-largest producer and client of beer worldwide, Brazil relies upon nearly solely on hop imports. Less than 1% of the ingredient answerable for the bitterness, aroma, and taste of beer is grown regionally. However, a brand new challenge involving Brazilian scientists and producers within the Vale do Ribeira area of the state of São Paulo seeks to vary this state of affairs. The challenge goals to make home hop manufacturing extra environment friendly and viable whereas boosting the event of recent bioproducts.
The challenge was born throughout the Center for Research on Biodiversity Dynamics and Climate Change ( CBioClima ), one of many Research, Innovation, and Dissemination Centers ( RIDCs ) supported by FAPESP and based mostly at São Paulo State University (UNESP). The challenge is investing in supercritical extraction with carbon dioxide (CO₂), a know-how that’s already well-established in international locations similar to Germany and the United States. This technique effectively extracts fragrant and bioactive compounds from hops, lowering logistics prices and enhancing beer high quality.
“Brazilian hops are normally sold in pellets [dehydrated and pressed flowers] to breweries. However, with this technology, hops can be marketed in oil form, which, in addition to logistical gains, yields beer production results that are far superior to conventional methods,” explains Levi Pompermayer Machado , a professor at UNESP and one of many researchers concerned within the challenge.
In addition to CBioClima, the challenge contains the National Institute of Science and Technology in Nanotechnology for Sustainable Agriculture ( INCT NanoAgro ), the Aquário de Ideias incubator, with startups from Vale do Ribeira, in addition to Bioativos Naturais and Kalamazoo – two corporations supported by FAPESP’s Innovative Research in Small Businesses Program ( PIPE ). The producers are a part of the SP Produz 2025 program, run by the São Paulo state authorities, which presents strategic help to strengthen native manufacturing chains.
In the research published within the journal Biomass Conversion and Biorefinery, the researchers in contrast the extraction of hops at Atlântica Hops within the municipality of Juquiá in Vale do Ribeira utilizing typical and supercritical CO₂ strategies. While conventional extraction, which makes use of natural solvents or a way generally known as steam stripping, yields about 15% extract with 9% α-acids (the compounds answerable for the bitterness of beer), the CO₂ technique achieves as much as 72% α-acids. Additionally, the method ends in a decrease quantity, higher preservation, and a rise of as much as 20% in beer productiveness.
“Each hop has a unique flavor, which is defined by what we call terroir, and that’s what the industry is looking for. In the study, we also conducted analyses of the sensory profile of the hop extract in pellets and the extract we produced. There was a slight change in flavor, but the sensory signature of the product remained more or less the same. Therefore, with all this improvement in efficiency and quality, the characteristics of the terroir are almost entirely maintained,” he says.
Machado factors out that the know-how examined in Vale do Ribeira stands out for adhering to the rules of inexperienced chemistry. Traditional strategies use giant quantities of water or petroleum-based solvents to separate important oils from hops.
Supercritical extraction, however, makes use of carbon dioxide underneath high-pressure, high-temperature situations the place it exists in a state between liquid and gasoline (the supercritical state). In this state, CO₂ acts as a pure solvent, penetrating deeply into the uncooked materials and extracting its compounds with excessive effectivity.
“In addition, the CO₂ used in supercritical technology is recaptured at the end of the process, which avoids atmospheric emissions and eliminates chemical residues in the extract. This makes the method more efficient and environmentally responsible,” says Machado.
The researcher states that the primary goal of the challenge is to supply producers with cultivation choices which have a smaller environmental footprint and larger added worth (as is the case with hops), relatively than increasing agricultural frontiers with low-value commodities similar to soybeans and sugarcane.
“We’re talking about producing more in a much smaller cultivated area, with a crop that responds well to climate change and offers multiple market possibilities,” the researcher factors out.
Circular economic system
Another benefit of this know-how is that the ensuing extracts can be utilized not solely within the brewing business but in addition within the cosmetics and pharmaceutical sectors. In addition to the extracts, the researchers analyzed the waste left over after extraction (spent hops).
Johana Marcela Concha Obando, a postdoctoral fellow at INCT NanoAgro at UNESP who’s concerned within the challenge, explains that hop waste nonetheless incorporates bioactive compounds with excessive antioxidant potential, similar to phenolics and flavonoids. “Since the technique doesn’t use reagents, this waste isn’t lost in the process and can be used for other purposes,” she explains.
The research’s biochemical evaluation revealed that, even after eradicating the primary energetic elements, the residual biomass retains properties that can be utilized in new merchandise. “With the extract, we’re no longer serving just the brewing niche, but reaching five, six, or even ten different sectors,” Machado celebrates.
About São Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP)
The São Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP) is a public establishment with the mission of supporting scientific analysis in all fields of data by awarding scholarships, fellowships and grants to investigators linked with increased schooling and analysis establishments within the State of São Paulo, Brazil. FAPESP is conscious that the perfect analysis can solely be accomplished by working with the perfect researchers internationally. Therefore, it has established partnerships with funding businesses, increased schooling, non-public corporations, and analysis organizations in different international locations recognized for the standard of their analysis and has been encouraging scientists funded by its grants to additional develop their worldwide collaboration. You can be taught extra about FAPESP at www.fapesp.br/en and go to FAPESP information company at www.agencia.fapesp.br/en to maintain up to date with the most recent scientific breakthroughs FAPESP helps obtain by means of its many packages, awards and analysis facilities. You may additionally subscribe to FAPESP information company at http://agencia.fapesp.br/subscribe .