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Arabinoxylans, β-glucans, and dextrins influence the brewing industry's filtration process and product quality. Despite their relevance, only a maximum concentration of β-glucans is recommended. Nevertheless, filtration problems are still present, indicating that although the chemical concentration is essential, other parameters should be investigated. Molar mass and conformation are important polymer physical characteristics often neglected in this industry. Therefore, this research proposes an approach to physically characterize enzymatically isolated beer polysaccharides by asymmetrical flow field-flow fractionation coupled to multi-angle light scattering and differential refractive index detector. Based on the obtained molar masses, root-mean-square radius (r rms from MALS), and hydrodynamic radius (r hyd ), conformational properties such as apparent density (ρ app ) and r rms /r hyd can be calculated based on their molar mass and size. Consequently, the ρ app and r rms /r hyd behavior hints at the different structures within each polysaccharide. The r rms /r hyd 1.2 and high ρ app values on low molar mass dextrins (1-2·10 5  g/mol) indicate branches, while aggregated structures at high molar masses on arabinoxylans and β-glucans (2·10 5 -6·10 6  g/mol) are due to an increase of ρ app and a r rms /r hyd (0.6-1). This methodology provides a new perspective to analyze starch and non-starch polysaccharides in cereal-based beverages since different physical characteristics could influence beer's filtration and sensory characteristics., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) remains the traditional malted cereal used for beverages, whereas rye (Secale cereale L.) is mainly used in baked goods. To evaluate the potential of rye malt for beverage production, malt quality indicators and the volatile composition of different rye malts were compared to barley malt. Sensory assessment revealed that pleasant malty and caramel aromas were formed by malting. Subsequently, three complementary isolation techniques and gas chromatography-olfactometry/mass spectrometry (GC-O/MS) were used for volatile analysis. Instrumental analysis detected 50 and 56 odor active volatiles in barley and rye, respectively. In part two, storage and the impact of three malting parameters on volatile formation were examined. Similarities in the malt volatile patterns were detected but the perceived intensity and composition varied. In barley, characteristic malty volatiles were lost during storage and staling compounds were formed. Conversely, nutty pyrazines and caramel furanones remained dominant in rye malts even after storage., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2023 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Kilned specialty malts provide relevant colour and flavour characteristics to beer and other beverages. Alongside the thermal load, the availability of Maillard precursors directly affect the malt aroma formation. To investigate the influence of process parameters on the flavour characteristics of kilned specialty malts, a full factorial design of experiments was applied varying malt modification degree, curing temperature and time in three levels (3 3 ). Analysis of response surfaces revealed a predominant influence of the modification degree and curing temperature on the formation of Strecker aldehydes and pyrazines. Odorants such as 2-methylpropanal and 2-ethyl3,6-dimethylpyrazine presented higher concentrations varying between 429.45 and 478.22 µg∙K gmalt -1 and 12.49 to 16.75 µg∙Kg malt -1 respectively, at samples produced under 100 °C and high modification degree. Sensory analysis revealed strong correlations between the odorant markers and typical malt flavour attributes, endorsing the applicability of such methodology on the development and optimisation of kilned malt specialities., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2023 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

The study of fermentation and brewing has a long history of pioneering discoveries that continue to influence modern industrial food production. Since then, numerous research endeavors have yielded conventional criteria that guide contemporary brewing practices. However, the intricate open challenges faced today necessitate a more exhaustive understanding of the process at the molecular scale. We have developed an ultra-high-resolution mass spectrometric analysis (FT-ICR-MS) of the brewing process that can rapidly and comprehensively resolve thousands of molecules. This approach allows us to track molecular fluctuation during brewing at the level of chemical compositions. Employing biological triplicates, our investigation of two brewing lines that are otherwise identical except for the malt used revealed over 8,000 molecular descriptors of the brewing process. Metabolite imprints of both the similarities and differences arising from deviating malting temperatures were visualized. Additionally, we translated traditional brewing attributes such as the EBC-value, free amino nitrogen, pH-value, and concentration curves of specific molecules, into highly correlative molecular patterns consisting of hundreds of metabolites. These in-depth molecular imprints provide a better understanding of the molecular circumstances leading to various changes throughout the brewing process. Such chemical maps go beyond the observation of traditional brewing attributes and are of great significance in the investigation strategies of current open challenges in brewing research. The molecular base of knowledge, along with advancements in technological and data integration schemes, can facilitate the efficient monitoring of brewing and other productions processes., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2023 Pieczonka, Zarnkow, Ampenberger, Gastl, Rychlik and Schmitt-Kopplin.)

Barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) is the traditional malting cereal and is primarily used for beverages, whereas rye (Secale cereale L.) is mainly used in baked goods. Conversely, quinoa (Chenopodium quinoa Willd.) is a gluten-free pseudocereal, rich in starch and high-quality proteins, and can be used in a similar manner to cereals. The sharp bitterness of unprocessed rye and the earthy aroma of native quinoa interfere with the acceptance and development of food products. Malting of barley is known to improve its processing properties and enhance its sensory quality. Therefore, the effect of germination and kilning on malt quality (e.g., viscosity) as well as the volatile composition of barley, rye, and quinoa were monitored. Moreover, temporal changes on the volatile patterns of rye and quinoa at the different stages of malting were compared to barley. In total, 34 volatile compounds were quantified in the three (pseudo)cereals; the alcohol group dominated in all unprocessed samples, in particular, compounds contributing grassy notes (e.g., hexan-1-ol). These grassy compounds remained abundant during germination, whereas kilning promoted the formation of Maillard reaction volatiles associated with malty and roasted notes. The volatile profiles of kilned barley and quinoa were characterized by high concentrations of the malty Strecker aldehyde, 3-methylbutanal. In contrast, green, floral notes imparted by phenylacetaldehyde remained dominant in rye malt. Hierarchical cluster analysis of the volatile data discriminated the samples into the different stages of malting, confirmed the similarities in the volatile patterns of barley and rye, and indicated clear differences to the quinoa samples. PRACTICAL APPLICATION: In this study, the effect of germination and kilning on the chemical and volatile composition of barley, rye, and quinoa was examined. Temporal changes on the volatile patterns of rye and quinoa at different stages of malting were compared to barley. Understanding the differences among the (pseudo)cereals as well as the influence of processing on malt quality and aroma development can help find new food applications., (© 2023 The Authors. Journal of Food Science published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of Institute of Food Technologists.)

Palate fullness intensity and mouthfeel descriptors are essential sensory characteristics of non-alcoholic beers (NABs). The descriptor's perception might be influenced by the molar distribution of the non-volatile matrix in cereal-based beverages like NABs. However, only limited information is available on the molar mass of different substances in NABs. This study investigated the role of weight average molar mass (M w ) and size of NABs fractions and their relation to sensory perception. Industrialized bottom-fermented NABs (n = 28) from the German market and NABs produced by different methods were used in this study. A trained sensory panel evaluated palate fullness intensity, mouthfeel, and basic taste descriptors (as additional quality parameters). Asymmetric flow field-flow fractionation was used to fractionate NABs, while M w was determined by multi-angle light scattering and differential refractive index detectors. The NABs were fractionated into three groups containing different substances: proteins, proteins-polyphenol complexes (P-PC) and low molar mass (non-)starch polysaccharides (LN-SP), and high molar mass (non-)starch polysaccharides (HN-SP). The M w range of proteins was 18.3-41 kDa, P-PC and LN-SP 43-122.6 kDa, and HN-SP 0.40-2.18·10 3 kDa. Harmony, defined as the sweet and sour ratio, influenced the palate fullness intensity perception. In the harmonic samples (sour/sweet sensory balanced), the size of HN-SP (> 25 nm) showed a positive correlation to palate fullness intensity. The results suggest the importance of dextrins, arabinoxylan, and β-glucan in modulating the sensory characteristics of harmonic bottom-fermented NABs., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2023 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Lupines and faba beans are protein-rich legumes, which can be utilized as a plant-based substitute for animal proteins in human nutrition in general and in the beverage industry in particular. However, their application is hampered by low protein solubility in the acidic pH range and by antinutrients such as flatulence-causing "raffinose family oligosaccharides" (RFOs). Germination is known in the brewing industry for increasing enzymatic activities and mobilizing storage compounds. Therefore, germinations of lupines and faba beans were performed at different temperatures, and their impact on protein solubility, the concentration of free amino acids, and degradation of RFOs, alkaloids, and phytic acid was evaluated. In general, changes were comparable for both legumes but less pronounced in faba beans. Germination depleted the RFOs entirely in both legumes. The protein size distribution was found to be shifted toward smaller fractions, the concentrations of free amino acids multiplied, and protein solubility increased. No substantial reductions in the binding capacity of phytic acid toward iron ions were observed, but a release of free phosphate in lupines was detected. The results prove that germination is an applicable process for refining lupines and faba beans for use not only in refreshing beverages or milk alternatives but also in other food applications.

Reverse osmosis (RO) is a widely used membrane technology for producing process water or tap water that is receiving increased attention due to water scarcity caused by climate change. A significant challenge in any membrane filtration is the presence of deposits on the membrane surfaces, which negatively affect filtration performance. Biofouling, the formation of biological deposits, poses a significant challenge in RO processes. Early detection and removal of biofouling are essential for effective sanitation and prevention of biological growth in RO-spiral wound modules. This study introduces two methods for the early detection of biofouling, capable of identifying initial stages of biological growth and biofouling in the spacer-filled feed channel. One method utilizes polymer optical fibre sensors that can be easily integrated into standard spiral wound modules. Additionally, image analysis was used to monitor and analyze biofouling in laboratory experiments, providing a complementary approach. To validate the effectiveness of the developed sensing approaches, accelerated biofouling experiments were conducted using a membrane flat module, and the results were compared with common online and offline detection methods. The reported approaches enable the detection of biofouling before known online parameters become indicative, effectively providing an online detection with sensitivities otherwise only achieved through offline characterization methods.

Background: Quinoa (Chenopodium quinoa Willd.) is a gluten-free pseudocereal, rich in starch and high-quality proteins. It can be used as a cereal. Recently, a variety of nontraditional food products were developed; however, the sharp bitterness and the earthy aroma of unprocessed quinoa interfered with the acceptance of these products. Malting of cereals is known to improve their processing properties and enhance their sensory quality. To evaluate the acceptance and potential of quinoa malt as a raw material for beverage production, malt quality indicators (e.g., soluble protein) and the aroma profiles of different quinoa malts were compared., Results: Initial sensory assessment of quinoa in its native and malted state identified differences in their aroma profiles and revealed that pleasant nutty and caramel aromas were formed by malting. Subsequently, three complementary isolation techniques and gas chromatography-olfactometry/mass spectrometry (GC-O/MS) were used for volatile analysis. Instrumental analysis detected 34 and 62 odor-active regions in native quinoa and quinoa malt, respectively. In the second part, storage and the impact of three malting parameters on volatile formation were examined. By varying the malting parameters, seven additional odor-active malting byproducts were revealed., Conclusion: Three naturally occurring methoxypyrazines were identified as important contributors to the characteristic quinoa aroma. In all fresh quinoa malts a similar number of volatile compounds was perceived but their intensity and composition varied. Higher germination temperature promoted the formation of lipid oxidation products. Fatty smelling compounds and carboxylic acids, formed during storage, were classified as aging indicators of quinoa malt. © 2022 The Authors. Journal of The Science of Food and Agriculture published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of Society of Chemical Industry., (© 2022 The Authors. Journal of The Science of Food and Agriculture published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of Society of Chemical Industry.)

Aims: Myocardial involvement is common in patients with systemic sclerosis (SSc) and causes myocardial fibrosis and subtle ventricular dysfunction. However, the temporal onset of myocardial involvement during the progression of the disease and its prognostic value are yet unknown. We used cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR) to investigate subclinical functional impairment and diffuse myocardial fibrosis in patients with very early diagnosis of SSc (VEDOSS) and established SSc and examined whether this was associated with mortality., Methods and Results: One hundred and ten SSc patients (86 established SSc, 24 VEDOSS) and 15 healthy controls were prospectively recruited. The patients were followed-up for a median duration of 7.0 years (interquartile range 6.0-7.3 years). Study subjects underwent CMR including assessment of myocardial fibrosis [native T1 and extracellular volume (ECV)] and measurement of global longitudinal (GLS) and circumferential (GCS) myocardial strain. Native T1 values and ECV were elevated in VEDOSS and SSc patients compared with controls (P < 0.001). GLS was similar in VEDOSS and controls but significantly impaired in patients with established SSc (P < 0.001). GCS was similar over all groups (P = 0.88). There were 12 deaths during follow-up. Elevated native T1 [hazard ratio (HR) 5.8, 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.7-20.4; P = 0.006] and reduced GLS (HR 6.1, 95% CI: 1.3-29.9; P = 0.038) identified subjects with increased risk of death. Only native T1 was predictive for cardiovascular mortality (P < 0.001)., Conclusion: Subclinical myocardial involvement first manifests as diffuse myocardial fibrosis identified by the expansion of ECV and increased native T1 in VEDOSS patients while subtle functional impairment only occurs in established SSc. Native T1 and GLS have prognostic value for all-cause mortality in SSc patients., Competing Interests: Conflict of interest: B.M. has/had grant/research support from Abbvie, Protagen, Novartis Biomedical Research, received speaker fees from Böhringer Ingelheim as well as congress support from Pfizer, Roche, Actelion, Mepha, and MSD. C.M. has received congress support from Actelion and Roche, and personal fees from Boehringer-Ingelheim, Mepha, and MEDtalks Switzerland, outside the submitted work. R.D. reports grants/research support from Pfizer, Actelion, and personal fees (speaker/consultancy) from Actelion and Boehringer-Ingelheim, outside the submitted work. O.D. has/had consultancy relationship with and/or has received research funding from or has served as a speaker for the following companies in the area of potential treatments for systemic sclerosis and its complications in the last 3 years: Abbvie, Acceleron, Alcimed, Amgen, AnaMar, Arxx, AstraZeneca, Baecon, Blade, Bayer, Boehringer-Ingelheim, ChemomAb, Corbus, CSL Behring, Galapagos, Glenmark, GSK, Horizon (Curzion), Inventiva, iQvia, Kymera, Lupin, Medac, Medscape, Miltenyi Biotec, Mitsubishi Tanabe, Novartis, Prometheus, Roche, Roivant, Sanofi, Serodapharm, Topadur and UCB. Patent issued ‘mir-29 for the treatment of systemic sclerosis’ (US8247389, EP2331143). O.D. and B.M. have a patent for ‘mir-29 for the treatment of systemic sclerosis’ (US8247389, EP2331143). All other authors have reported that they have no relationships relevant to the contents of this paper to disclose., (© The Author(s) 2022. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the European Society of Cardiology. All rights reserved. For permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.)

Background: Early after ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI), initial LV reshaping and hypokinesia may affect analysis of LV function. Concomitant microvascular dysfunction may affect LV function as well., Objective: To perform a comparative evaluation of left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) and stroke volume (SV) by different imaging modalities to assess LV function early after STEMI., Methods: LVEF and SV were assessed using serial imaging within 24 h and 5 days after STEMI using cineventriculography (CVG), 2-dimensional echocardiography (2DE), 2D/3D cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR) (2D/3D) in 82 patients., Results: 2D analyses of LVEF using CVG, 2DE and 2D CMR yielded uniform results within 24 h and 5 days of STEMI. SV assessment between CVG and 2DE was comparable, whereas values for SV were higher using 2D CMR (p < 0.01 all). This was due to higher LVEDV measurements. LVEF by 2D versus 3D CMR was comparable, 3D CMR yielded higher volumetric values. This was not influenced by infarct location or infarct size., Conclusions: 2D analysis of LVEF yielded robust results across all imaging techniques implying that CVG, 2DE, and 2D CMR can be used interchangeably early after STEMI. SV measurements differed substantially between imaging techniques due to higher intermodality-differences of absolute volumetric measurements.

The history of beer: from a staple food to a consumer product with an enormous variety of styles and tastes., (© 2022 The Authors. Published under the terms of the CC BY NC ND 4.0 license.)

Rye is used in some applications in the food and beverage industry and for the preparation of functional foods. It is an interesting raw material in malting and brewing due to its characteristic contribution to the beer's color, turbidity, foam and aroma. The aim of this work was to optimize the micro-malting process of a rye landrace. The response surface methodology (RSM) was applied to study the influence of three malting parameters (germination time, germination temperature and degree of steeping) on the quality traits of malted rye. Long germination times at high temperatures resulted in an increase in the extract and Kolbach index. The model for the apparent attenuation limit showed a particular pattern, whereby time and temperature inversely influenced the response. The lowest viscosities were determined in the worts produced from highly modified malts. Optimization of the variables under study was achieved by means of a desirability function and a genetic algorithm. The two methodologies provided similar results. The best combination of parameters to optimize the malting process on the rye landrace under study was achieved at 6 days, 12 °C and 44 g/100 g.

Specialty malts are strategic ingredients regarding their contribution to colour and flavour of beer. Malts with the same colour may present distinct flavour characteristics and intensities. Contradictorily, colour is the benchmark in practical quality control. To investigate the correlation between colour and flavour of kilned barley specialty malts, odorants of commercial products of pale ale (5-9 EBC), Vienna (6-10 EBC), Munich (11-35 EBC) and melanoidin malts (80-90 EBC) were screened via solvent-assisted flavour evaporation (SAFE) and compared via comparative aroma extract dilution analysis (cAEDA). Subsequently, selected odorants were quantified using solid-phase microextraction (SPME). A total of 34 odorants were detected, of which 12 exhibited a concentration increase as the coloration increased, whereas 4 suggested the influence of temperature and modification degree on aroma formation. Such odorants are thus elected as potential markers for monitoring the influence of process variations on the formation of aroma in commercial kilned specialty malts., (Copyright © 2022 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.)

A liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) multi-mycotoxin method was developed for the analysis of the Alternaria toxins alternariol (AOH), alternariol monomethyl ether (AME), tentoxin (TEN), altertoxin I (ATX I), altertoxin II (ATX II), alterperylenol (ALTP), and altenuene (ALT), as well as the modified toxins AOH-3-glucoside (AOH-3-G), AOH-9-glucoside (AOH-9-G), AME-3-glucoside (AME-3-G), AOH-3-sulfate (AOH-3-S), and AME-3-sulfate (AME-3-S) in barley and malt. The toxin tenuazonic acid (TeA) was analyzed separately as it could not be included into the multi-mycotoxin method. Quantitation was conducted by using a combination of stable isotope dilution analysis (SIDA) for AOH, AME, and TeA, and matrix-matched calibration for all other toxins. Limits of detection were between 0.05 µg/kg (AME) and 2.45 µg/kg (ALT), whereas limits of quantitation ranged from 0.16 µg/kg (AME) to 8.75 µg/kg (ALT). Recoveries between 96 and 107% were obtained for the analytes when SIDA was applied, while recoveries between 84 and 112% were found for analytes quantified by matrix-matched calibration. The method was applied for the analysis of 50 barley samples and their respective malts from the harvest years 2016-2020 for their mycotoxin content, showing the overall potential of toxin formation during the malting process. The toxins ALTP and ATX I were mainly found in the malt samples, but not in barley., (© 2022. The Author(s).)

Objectives: Although cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR) is increasingly used to diagnose pericardial inflammation, imaging can still be challenging using conventional CMR techniques. Parametric mapping (T1/T2 mapping) techniques have emerged as novel methods to quantify focal and global changes of the myocardium without contrast agent. The aim of the present study was to implement parametric mapping to facilitate diagnostic decision-making in pericardial inflammation., Methods: Twenty patients with pericardial inflammation underwent CMR (1.5T system) including T1-weighted/T2-weighted imaging, T1/T2 mapping and late gadolinium enhancement. T1/T2 mapping was performed in end-diastole covering three short-axis slices. Diagnosis of pericardial inflammation was made according to recent guidelines. T1/T2 measurements were pursued by manually drawing regions of interest (ROIs) in the thickened, diseased pericardium carefully avoiding contamination by other cardiac structures. Parametric values were correlated to further markers of pericardial inflammation, such as pericardial thickening and inflammatory parameters., Results: On average, the pericardium displayed a thickness of 4.8±1.0 mm. Mean T1 value was 1363.0±227.1 ms and T2 value was 123.3±52.6 ms, which were above patient's myocardial values (myocardial T1: 998.7±81.0 ms, p<0.001, median 1014.46 ms; T2: 68.0±28.9 m,p<0.001) and the values of a group of four patients with chronic pericarditis (T1: 953.0±16.7 ms; T2: 63.2±10.1 ms). T1 and T2 showed a correlation to the extent of the thickened pericardium (R=0.64, p=0.002 for T1, R=0.72, p=0.005 for T2). There was no correlation of pericardial T1/T2 to blood markers of inflammation, myocardial injury (C reactive protein, troponin, creatine kinase) or further CMR parameters., Conclusions: In patients with pericardial inflammation, parametric mapping showed elevated T1 and T2 values. Parametric mapping may help to facilitate diagnosis of pericardial inflammation if conventional parameters such as pericardial hyperintensity in T1-weighted or T2-weighted imaging or contrast agent uptake are heterogeneous., Competing Interests: Competing interests: None declared., (© Author(s) (or their employer(s)) 2022. Re-use permitted under CC BY-NC. No commercial re-use. See rights and permissions. Published by BMJ.)

Filamentous fungi have a crucial impact on the food safety and technological quality of malting barley. Commonly used techniques for the detection of seed-borne fungi are based on cultivation and identification by morphological criteria. In contrast, this study established a quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assay based on SYBR green technology for the detection and quantification of black fungal species ( Alternaria spp., Epicoccum nigrum , Cladosporium cladosporioides , Penicillium verrucosum and Aspergillus niger ) on brewing barley and compares it with the traditional cultivation technique and visual assessment. To screen the fungal spectrum over different barley varieties and harvest years, naturally infected samples of malting barley and corresponding malts ( Hordeum vulgare L.) were analyzed over four consecutive years (2018-2021), grown under different climatic conditions in Germany. Alternaria and Cladosporium spp. DNA were present in all examined barley samples, even without visible contamination. In contrast, detection via culture-based methods does not reliably cover all species. Molecular analysis showed that there was less fungal biomass after malting, by 58.57% in the case of A. alternata , by 28.27% for Cladosporium spp. and by 12.79% for Epicoccum nigrum . Correlation analysis showed no causal relationship between fungal DNA and the number of black kernels. The qPCR provides a highly sensitive and time-saving screening method for detecting latent fungal infections in brewing grains to identify batches that are potentially highly contaminated with toxigenic fungi.

Flavor instability of beer is affected by the rise of aroma-active aldehydes during aging. Aldehydes can be either released from bound-state forms or formed de novo . This second part of our study focused on the de novo formation of aldehydes during the Maillard reaction, Strecker degradation, and oxidation reactions. Key precursor compounds for de novo pathways are free amino acids. This study varied the potential for reactions by varying free amino acid content in fresh beer using different proteolytic malt modification levels (569-731 mg/100 g d. m. of soluble nitrogen) of the used malt in brewing trials. Overall, six pale lager beers were produced from three malts (different malt modification levels), each was made from two different barley varieties and was naturally and forcibly aged. It was found that higher malt modification levels in fresh beer and during beer aging increased amino acid and dicarbonyl concentrations as aging precursors and Strecker aldehyde contents as aging indicators. Dicarbonyls were degraded during aging. Advanced glycation end products as possible degradation products showed no consistent formation during aging. Therefore, Strecker reactions were favored during beer aging. No alternative oxidative formation of Strecker aldehydes from their corresponding alcohols could be confirmed. Along with the preceding part one of our investigation, the results of this study showed that de novo formation and release occur simultaneously. After 4 months of natural aging, aldehyde rise is mainly accounted for by de novo formation.

Flavor instability of pale lager beer depends decisively on aroma-active aldehydes from the Maillard reaction, Strecker degradation, and lipid oxidation, which are formed in various oxidative and non-oxidative reactions. Therein, aldehydes can be formed de novo and be released from bound states to a free, aroma-active form during aging. During malting and brewing, proteolysis affects the amount of soluble nitrogen and thus flavor instability in different ways (e.g., precursors for de novo formation and binding agents for bound states). To isolate nitrogen-related aging processes, beers from malts (two barley varieties, three proteolytic malt modifications) were produced on a 50 L scale in part 1 of this study. Sensory analysis revealed increased flavor instability for beers with higher amounts of soluble nitrogen. Especially Strecker aldehydes significantly increased with malt modification. The release of bound state aldehydes revealed most free aldehydes in fresh beers and with higher malt modification. During aging, the equilibrium between free and bound state aldehydes shifted toward the free form. These results reveal a nitrogen-dependent bound pool of aldehydes that is depleted during aging and is responsible for aged aroma, especially in the early and medium stages of aging. Therefore, bound state aldehydes are indicators of the early-stage prediction of flavor instability already in a fresh condition.

The dynamic changes in beer flavor are determined by its aging potential, which comprises of present free and bound-state aldehydes and their precursors. Rising flavor-active aging compounds cause sensory deterioration (flavor instability). These compounds are mainly formed upstream in the brewing process through the Maillard reaction, the Strecker degradation, or lipid oxidation. Wort boiling is an especially critical production step for important reactions due to its high temperature and favorable pH value. Amino acid concentration, as an important aging-relevant precursor, is variable at the beginning of wort boiling, mainly caused by the malt modification level, and can further influence the aging potential aging formation during wort boiling. This study investigated the effect of the proteolytic malt modification level on the formation of precursors (amino acids and dicarbonyls) and free and bound-state aldehydes during wort boiling. Six worts (malt of two malting barley varieties at three proteolytic malt modification levels) were produced. Regarding precursors, especially Strecker, relevant amino acids and dicarbonyls increased significantly with an enhanced malt modification level. Concentrations of free and bound aldehydes were highest at the beginning of boiling and decreased toward the end. A dependency of malt modification level and the degree of free and bound aldehydes was observed for 2-methylpropanal, 2-methylbutanal, and 3-methylbutanal. Generally, a higher proteolytic malt modification level tended to increase free and bound aldehyde content at the end of wort boiling. Conclusively, the aging potential formation during boiling was increased by an intensified malt modification level.

Specialty malts comprise a promising field for innovative approaches concerning their potential in terms of color, aroma, and taste influence on the composition of beer and other beverages. Nevertheless, poor reproducibility of aroma and taste is a recurrent struggle between maltsters, leaving color as a practical parameter for quality control. However, malts with similar coloration can present distinct aroma profiles, leaving open questions concerning key aroma compounds, their dynamic responses to malting process variations and to what extent they may vary in a certain color range. Key aroma volatiles have been identified in the matrix of barley malt, comprising a variety of products of non-enzymatic browning reactions (e.g., caramelization, pyrolysis, and Maillard reactions). Here, water plays a crucial role together with the intensity of the temperature regimes. Nevertheless, the final aroma profile of a malt product is the result of a balance between aroma formation and losses. Therefore, the correlation between color and aroma is of big complexity. That being the case, the present article questions if key aroma compounds responsible for the peculiar flavors of specialties have been defined by scientific literature and whether their production dynamics is unveiled. In this manner, this work proposes an overview of the aroma compounds present in specialty malt products studied up to the current date. More specifically, the process production of specialty malts and its potential impact on the formation of aroma and taste is studied alongside the key aroma-active compounds, their correlation to color, and trending analytical techniques for aroma and color assessment., (© 2021 The Authors. Comprehensive Reviews in Food Science and Food Safety published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of Institute of Food Technologists.)

Efficient enzymatic hydrolysis of cereal starches requires a proper hydrothermal pre-treatment. For malted barley, however, the exact initial temperature is presently unknown. Therefore, samples were micro-mashed according to accurately determined gelatinization and pasting temperatures. The impact on starch morphology, mash viscometry and sugar yields was recorded in the presence and absence of an amylase inhibitor to differentiate between morphological and enzymatic effects. Mashing at gelatinization onset temperatures (54.5-57.1 °C) led to negligible morphological and viscometric changes, whereas mashing at pasting onset temperatures (57.5-59.8 °C) induced significant starch granule swelling and degradation resulting in increased sugar yields (61.7% of upper reference limit). Complete hydrolysis of A-type and partial hydrolysis of B-type granules was achieved within only 10 min of mashing at higher temperatures (61.4-64.5 °C), resulting in a sugar yield of 97.5% as compared to the reference laboratory method mashing procedure (65 °C for 60 min). The results indicate that the beginning of starch pasting was correctly identified and point out the potential of an adapted process temperature control.

Dealcoholisation of beer has gained prominence over the last decade. A well-known procedure involves the combination of a rectification column for thermal dealcoholisation and a downstream column for aroma recovery. However, the recovery of valuable fermentation by-products is rarely performed due to limited data about the enrichment and depletion of ethanol and aromatic compounds. The influence of operating conditions on the transfer of ethanol and aroma compounds to the recovery fluid, henceforth, 'aromawater', has not yet been fully explored. Therefore, this study involved examining how ethanol concentration and aroma compounds in the aromawater are affected by the condenser temperature and reflux rate during thermal dealcoholisation. The aim was to obtain an aromawater having a maximum level of valuable aroma substances and a minimum level of ethanol for re-blending with non-alcoholic beer, hypothetically causing aroma intensification. An industrial system was used for sample production. Ethanol as well as higher alcohols and ester concentrations were analysed in the different material flows, and mass balances were thus compiled. Sensory analysis was performed to evaluate the beer aroma's intensification as a sustainable industrial application. The obtained results indicate that increased condenser temperature was associated with increased aroma concentrations in the aromawater. If the temperature of the condenser's coolant exceeded 15 °C, dealcoholisation < 0.05% abv could not be guaranteed. A higher reflux rate led to higher concentrations of fermentation by-products in the aromawater. Finally, the aroma profile of three non-alcoholic beers (0.0% abv, 0.5% abv after blending with original beer, and 0.5% abv after blending with aromawater) were evaluated. By blending, the attributes 'estery' and 'flowery' were assessed as dominant. The effect was more pronounced with aromawater than with the original beer.

Sensory, olfactometry (using the sums of odour intensities for each class of compounds) and chemometric analyses were used to evaluate Portuguese wild hops' sensory characteristics and the aroma that those hops impart to dry-hopped beer. CATA analysis and agglomerative hierarchical clustering was applied for the sensory characterization of 15 wild hops of Portuguese genotypes, clustering them in two groups: one more sulphurous, floral, and fruity, and another more earthy, resinous, floral, and non-citrus fruits. Two hops representative of each group were selected for the production of four dry-hopped beers using the same base beer style (Munich Helles). Beers were analysed by quantitative descriptive analyses and quantification of hop-derived key volatile compounds. Multivariate statistical treatment of the data was performed. Results indicate significant differences ( p < 0.05) in fruity, resinous, earthy, floral, and sulphurous attributes of hops, but the dry-hopped beers only have a significant increase ( p < 0.05) in fruity and spicy notes when compared with non-dry-hopped Munich-style Helles beer. Hop olfactometry explained the sensory perception that the 11 hops not used for brewing (employed as supplementary observations) are placed into the space of the odour-active compounds profile of the four hops selected for brewing. These 11 hop samples have more spiciness than fruitiness potential.

Objectives: Distinguishing hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) from left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH) due to systematic training (athlete's heart, AH) from morphologic assessment remains challenging. The purpose of this study was to examine the role of T2 mapping and deformation imaging obtained by cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR) to discriminate AH from HCM with (HOCM) or without outflow tract obstruction (HNCM)., Methods: Thirty-three patients with HOCM, 9 with HNCM, 13 strength-trained athletes as well as individual age- and gender-matched controls received CMR. For T2 mapping, GRASE-derived multi-echo images were obtained and analyzed using dedicated software. Besides T2 mapping analyses, left ventricular (LV) dimensional and functional parameters were obtained including LV mass per body surface area (LVMi), interventricular septum thickness (IVS), and global longitudinal strain (GLS)., Results: While LVMi was not significantly different, IVS was thickened in HOCM patients compared to athlete's. Absolute values of GLS were significantly increased in patients with HOCM/HNCM compared to AH. Median T2 values were elevated compared to controls except in athlete's heart. ROC analysis revealed T2 values (AUC 0.78) and GLS (AUC 0.91) as good parameters to discriminate AH from overall HNCM/HOCM., Conclusion: Discrimination of pathologic from non-pathologic LVH has implications for risk assessment of competitive sports in athletes. Multiparametric CMR with parametric T2 mapping and deformation imaging may add information to distinguish AH from LVH due to HCM., Key Points: • Structural analyses using T2 mapping cardiovascular magnetic resonance imaging (CMR) may help to further distinguish myocardial diseases. • To differentiate pathologic from non-pathologic left ventricular hypertrophy, CMR including T2 mapping was obtained in patients with hypertrophic obstructive/non-obstructive cardiomyopathy (HOCM/HNCM) as well as in strength-trained athletes. • Elevated median T2 values in HOCM/HNCM compared with athlete's may add information to distinguish athlete's heart from pathologic left ventricular hypertrophy.

Palate fullness and mouthfeel of beer are key attributes of sensory beer quality. Non-volatile substances and molar mass fractions influence sensory perceptions of palate fullness and mouthfeel. However, systematic correlations between sensory attributes and native beer compounds have not been evaluated within the concentration range found in lager beer. This article reports a chemometric analysis of 41 lager beers by evaluating analytical data of beer compositions, palate fullness, and mouthfeel descriptors. AF4-MALS-dRI indicated high variability in the macromolecular compositions of classical lager beers. Screened beers were clustered into groups differing significantly in palate fullness intensity and macromolecular distribution. Significant correlations were found between palate fullness and macromolecular fractions and beer composition parameters: original gravity, viscosity, indices of macromolecular distribution, total nitrogen (p < 0.001), and β-glucan (p < 0.01). Thus, a model was built using partial least square regression (PLS) analysis to predict the palate fullness intensity in beers (R 2 C  = 0.7993). This model can be used as a guideline by brewers to control palate fullness and mouthfeel., (Copyright © 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

3-Deoxyglucosone (3-DG) is a Maillard reaction intermediate, which forms known beer aging compounds such as Strecker aldehydes. However, the role of 3-DG in beer aging stability has not been described yet. To investigate the influence of 3-DG toward beer aging stability, different concentrations of 3-DG were added to the freshly brewed beer at the beginning of storage. Analysis of well-known degradation products of 3-DG such as 3-deoxygalactosone (HPLC-UV), 5-hydroxymethylfurfural (HPLC-UV), Strecker aldehydes (GC-MS), and free glycated amino acids (HPLC-MS/MS) during beer aging revealed that a higher initial 3-DG concentration increases the formation of the products. In this study, the significant importance of 3-DG as a key precursor compound in beer aging has been shown, especially the increase of Strecker aldehydes.

Aims: Late gadolinium enhancement (LGE) visualizes scar tissue after myocardial infarction. However, in clinically used LGE sequences, subendocardial infarcts can be missed due to low contrast between blood pool and subendocardium. The purpose of his study was to compare scar visibility in a novel 3-dimensional (3D) single breath-hold inversion recovery sequence with fixed, short inversion time (TI = 100 milliseconds) (short LGE) and standard 3D LGE imaging with individually adjusted TI (LGE)., Methods: Short LGE and LGE (both sequences with the same settings: spatial resolution, 1.2 × 1.2 mm; slice thickness, 8 mm; field of view, 350 × 350 mm; single breath-hold) were acquired in 64 patients with previous MI (13 female; mean age, 57 ± 19 years) at 1.5 T. Inversion time was set to 100 milliseconds in short LGE and adjusted individually in LGE according to the Look-Locker sequence. Two independent readers evaluated 1088 segments (17-segment model), identified infarcted segments, and categorized scar visibility (5 = excellent, 1 = poor scar visibility) and scar transmurality (4 = transmural, 0 = no scar) using a 5-point Likert scale. Signal intensity ratios between short LGE and LGE for scar and blood pool, for scar and remote myocardium, and for remote myocardium and blood pool were calculated., Results: Short LGE showed 197 infarcted segments out of 1088 (18.1%); LGE revealed 191 segments (17.6%). Short LGE with dark scar and bright blood pool demonstrated better overall scar visibility, especially in subendocardially infarcted segments compared with LGE (4.2 vs 3.0, 5 = excellent visibility; P = 0.01). Signal intensity ratios for short LGE relative to LGE were 1.42 for scar/blood pool, 0.8 for scar/remote myocardium, and 0.22 for remote myocardium/blood.Overall transmurality was not rated higher in short LGE compared with LGE (P = 0.8). More fibrous tissue and total fibrous percentage (P = 0.04) were measured in short LGE compared with LGE, whereas myocardial mass was not significantly different (P = 0.5). Acquisition time was similar between short LGE and LGE (26 ± 4 seconds vs 25 ± 9 seconds, P = 0.7)., Conclusions: Short LGE is a fast, single breath-hold 3D LGE sequence with no need for myocardial nulling due to fixed inversion time with improved scar visibility, especially in subendocardial infarcts.

Background: Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) is associated with an increased risk of adverse cardiac events. Beyond classic risk factors, relative myocardial ischaemia and succeeding myocardial alterations, which can be detected using either contrast agents or parametric mapping in cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR) imaging, have shown an impact on outcome in HCM. CMR may help to risk stratify using parametric T2* mapping. Therefore, the aim of the present study was to evaluate the association of T2* values or fibrosis with cardiovascular events in HCM., Methods: The relationship between T2* with supraventricular, ventricular arrhythmia or heart failure was retrospectively assessed in 91 patients with HCM referred for CMR on a 1.5T MR imaging system. Fibrosis as a reference was added to the model. Patients were subdivided into groups according to T2* value quartiles., Results: 47 patients experienced an event of ventricular arrhythmia, 25 of atrial fibrillation/flutter and 17 of heart failure. T2*≤28.7 ms yielded no association with ventricular events in the whole HCM cohort. T2* of non-obstructive HCM showed a significant association with ventricular events in univariate analysis, but not in multivariate analysis. For the combined endpoint of arrhythmic events, there was already an association for the whole HCM cohort, but again only in univariate analyses. Fibrosis stayed the strongest predictor in all analyses. There was no association for T2* and fibrosis with heart failure., Conclusions: Decreased T2* values by CMR only provide a small association with arrhythmic events in HCM, especially in non-obstructive HCM. No information is added for heart failure., Competing Interests: Competing interests: None declared., (© Author(s) (or their employer(s)) 2020. Re-use permitted under CC BY-NC. No commercial re-use. See rights and permissions. Published by BMJ.)

Purpose: Respiratory gating in cardiac water-suppressed (WS) proton spectroscopy leads to long and unpredictable scan times. Metabolite cycling allows to perform frequency and phase correction on the water signal and, hence, offers an approach to navigator-free cardiac spectroscopy with fixed scan time. The objective of the present study was to develop and implement navigator-free metabolite-cycled cardiac proton spectroscopy (MC nonav) and compare it with standard navigator-gated WS (WS nav) and navigator-free WS (WS nonav) measurements for the assessment of triglyceride-to-water ratios (TG/W) and creatine-to-water ratios (CR/W) in the intraventricular septum of the in vivo heart., Methods: Navigator-free metabolite-cycled spectroscopy was implemented on a clinical 1.5T system. In vivo measurements were performed on 10 young and 5 older healthy volunteers to assess signal-to-noise ratio efficiency as well as TG/W and CR/W and the relative Cramér-Rao lower bounds for CR. The performance of the metabolite-cycled sequence was verified using simulations., Results: On average, scan times of MC nonav were 3.4 times shorter compared with WS nav, while no significant bias for TG/W was observed (coefficient of variation = 14.0%). signal-to-noise ratio efficiency of both TG and CR increased for MC nonav compared with WS nav. Relative Cramér-Rao lower bounds of CR decreased for MC nonav. Overall spectral quality was found comparable between MC nonav and WS nav, while it was inferior for WS nonav., Conclusion: Navigator-free metabolite-cycled cardiac proton spectroscopy offers 3.4-fold accelerated assessment of TG/W and CR/W in the heart with preserved spectral quality when compared with navigator-gated WS scans., (© 2019 International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine.)

Mandarina Bavaria is a "Special Flavor" hop variety, described as fruity, with pronounced mandarin and citrus, combined with traditional hoppy sensations. The relationship between fruity-citrus intensity and the volatile profile of dry-hopped beers was assessed in order to predict the sensory perception of those dry-hopped beers using the content of selected volatile compounds. For this purpose, two base beers (A and B) that presented statistical differences ( p < 0.05) in the composition of volatile compounds and on the sensory perception were dry hopped with 3 g/L Mandarina Bavaria hop. Twenty-four volatiles from hop were quantified during 15 days of dry hopping, while the sensory perception was followed by a certified trained panel. The sensory perception of total hoppy content (in a scale from 0 to 5) can be estimated using a PLS equation ( Q 2 = 0.654): total hoppy = 1.8 + [myrcene (μg/L) × 7.5 × 10 -3 ] + [2-methylbutyl-2-methylpropanoate (μg/L) × 4.2 × 10 -3 ] + [linalool (μg/L) × 7.2 × 10 -3 ] + [α-humulene (μg/L) × 2.3 × 10 -3 ]). Successful models were also obtained to predict citrus ( Q 2 = 0.745), green fruit ( Q 2 = 0.598), and sweet fruit ( Q 2 = 0.626) characteristics of dry-hopped beers.

In MR elastography (MRE), zeroth moment balanced motion-encoding gradients (MEGs) are incorporated into MRI sequences to induce a phase shift proportional to the local displacement caused by external actuation. To maximize the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), fractional encoding is employed, i.e., the MEG duration is reduced below the wave period. Here, gradients encode primarily the velocity of the motion-reducing encoding efficiency. Thus, in GRE-MRE, T 2 * decay and motion sensitivity have to be balanced, imposing a lower limit on repetition times (TRs). We propose to use a single trapezoidal gradient, a "unipolar gradient", to directly encode spin displacement. Such gradients cannot be used in conventional sequences as they exhibit a large zeroth moment and dephase magnetization. By time-reversing a spoiled SSFP sequence, the spoiling gradient becomes an efficient unipolar MEG. The proposed "unipolar MRE" technique benefits from this approach in three ways: first, displacement encoding is split over multiple TRs increasing motion sensitivity; second, spoiler and MEG coincide, allowing a reduction in TR; third, motion sensitivity of a typical unipolar lobe is of an order of magnitude higher than a bipolar MEG of equal duration. In this work, motion encoding using unipolar MRE is analyzed using the extended phase graph (EPG) formalism with a periodic motion propagator. As an approximation, the two-transverse TR approximation for diffusion-weighted SSFP is extended to incorporate cyclic motion. A complex encoding efficiency metric is introduced to compare the displacement fields of unipolar and conventional GRE-MRE sequences in both magnitude and phase. The derived theoretical encoding equations are used to characterize the proposed sequence using an extensive parameter study. Unipolar MRE is validated against conventional GRE-MRE in a phantom study showing excellent agreement between measured displacement fields. In addition, unipolar MRE yields significantly increased octahedral shear strain-SNR relative to conventional GRE-MRE and allows for the recovery of high stiffness inclusions, where conventional GRE-MRE fails., (© 2019 The Authors. NMR in Biomedicine Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

Background: Respiratory motion is a major limiting factor for spectral quality and duration of in vivo proton MR spectroscopy of the heart. Prospective navigator gating is frequently applied to minimize the effects of respiratory motion, but scan durations are subject-dependent and hence difficult to predict., Purpose: To implement cardiac proton MRS with fixed scan time by employing retrospective phase-based gating and to compare the proposed method to conventional navigator-gated MRS., Study Type: Prospective., Subjects: Eighteen healthy volunteers (29.7 ± 7.8 years)., Field Strength/sequence: 1.5, navigator-gated (16 averages without, 96 with water suppression [WS]) data acquisition as reference and navigator-free data acquisition with a fixed scan time (48 without WS, 304 with WS), cardiac-triggered point-resolved spectroscopy (PRESS)., Assessment: Navigator-free data acquisition with retrospective phase-based gating was compared with prospective navigator-gating. Navigator-free acquisition was repeated in 10 subjects to assess reproducibility. Scan time was assessed for prospective and retrospective gating. Retrospective phase-based gating was performed using a threshold based on the standard deviation (SD) of individual water (W) and triglyceride (TG) phases., Statistical Tests: T-tests and Bland-Altman analysis., Results: The duration of the prospective navigator-gated scans ranged from 6:09 minutes to 21:50 minutes (mean 10:05 ± 3:46 min, gating efficiency 40.4 ± 10.5%), while data acquisition for retrospective phase-based gating had a fixed scan time of 11:44 minutes. Retrospective phase-based gating using a threshold of 1 × SD yielded a gating efficiency of 72.7 ± 4.3% and a coefficient of variation (CoV) of triglyceride-to-water ratios of 9.8% compared with the navigated reference. The intrasubject reproducibility of retrospective gating revealed a CoV of 9.5%., Data Conclusion: Cardiac proton MRS employing retrospective phase-based gating is feasible and provides reproducible assessment of TG/W in a fixed scan time. Since scan time is independent of respiratory motion, retrospective phase-based gating offers an approach to motion compensation with predictable exam time for proton MRS of the heart., Level of Evidence: 2 Technical Efficacy: Stage 2 J. Magn. Reson. Imaging 2019;50:1973-1981., (© 2019 International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine.)

Clinical presentation of left ventricular non-compaction cardiomyopathy (LVNC) can be heterogeneous from asymptomatic expression to congestive heart failure. Deformation indices assessed by cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR) can determine subclinical alterations of myocardial function and have been reported to be more sensitive to functional changes than ejection fraction. The objective of the present study was to investigate the determinants of myocardial deformation indices in patients with LVNC. Twenty patients with LVNC (44.7 ± 14.0 years) and twenty age- and gender-matched controls (49.1 ± 12.4 years) underwent functional CMR imaging using an ECG-triggered steady state-free-precession sequence (SSFP). Deformation indices derived with a feature tracking algorithm were calculated including end-systolic global longitudinal strain (GLS), circumferential strain (GCS), longitudinal and circumferential strain rate (SR ll and SR cc ). Twist and rotation were determined using an in-house developed post-processing pipeline. Global deformation indices (GLS, GCS, SR ll and SR cc ) were significantly lower in patients with LVNC compared to healthy controls (all, p < 0.01), especially for midventricular and apical regions. Apical rotation and twist were impaired for LVNC (p = 0.007 and p = 0.012), but basal rotation was preserved. Deformation indices of strain, strain rate and twist correlated well with parameters of the non-compacted myocardium, but not with the total myocardial mass or the thinning of the compacted myocardium, e.g. r = 0.595 between GLS and the non-compacted mass (p < 0.001). In conclusion, CMR deformation indices are reduced in patients with LVNC especially in affected midventricular and apical slices. The impairment of all strain and twist parameters correlates well with the extent of non-compacted myocardium.

Background: Many studies have confirmed a wide variation in the phenolic content and antioxidant activity of beers. However, when commercial beers are studied, there is usually no information available on the brewing technology applied. In this study, technological parameters were varied systematically to influence the antioxidant content of beer with a view to improving its flavor stability. High-throughput assays, ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP) and oxygen radical absorbance capacity (ORAC) were investigated as fast analytical methods to evaluate the influence of brewing technology on antioxidant activity., Results: Beers (n = 12) were brewed with systematic technological variations (malt modification, hopping regime) to influence the antioxidant potential. A late hop addition resulted in significantly higher phenolic content (high-performance liquid chromatography with diode-array detection - HPLC-DAD) and antioxidant activity. Raw protein content and malt modification significantly influenced phenolic content and the antioxidant activity of beers hopped at the beginning of wort boiling. Samples were stored under forced and natural conditions and were evaluated by a sensory panel. The decline of bitter iso-α-acids as an analytical marker for oxidative aging was significantly lower in beers brewed from malts with high raw protein content. These samples also had higher antioxidant activity values. Panelists gave higher ratings for beer quality to aged beers with a late hop addition. However, late hopping resulted in enhanced hoppy aroma attributes and therefore an altered aroma profile., Conclusions: Both antioxidant capacity methods were well suited as fast methods to evaluate brewing raw material and technological influence on antioxidant activity. The appropriate choice of barley malt and the malting regime could be promising tools to enhance the antioxidant activity of traditionally hopped beers. © 2019 The Authors. Journal of The Science of Food and Agriculture published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of Society of Chemical Industry., (© 2019 The Authors. Journal of The Science of Food and Agriculture published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of Society of Chemical Industry.)

Background: In-vivo cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR) diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) allows imaging of alterations of cardiac fiber architecture in diseased hearts. Cardiac amyloidosis (CA) causes myocardial infiltration of misfolded proteins with unknown consequences for myocardial microstructure. This study applied CMR DTI in CA to assess microstructural alterations and their consequences for myocardial function compared to healthy controls., Methods: Ten patients with CA (8 AL, 2 ATTR) and ten healthy controls were studied using a diffusion-weighed second-order motion-compensated spin-echo sequence at 1.5 T. Additionally, left ventricular morphology, ejection fraction, strain and native T1 values were obtained in all subjects. In CA patients, T1 mapping was repeated after the administration of gadolinium for extracellular volume fraction (ECV) calculation. CMR DTI analysis was performed to yield the scalar diffusion metrics mean diffusivity (MD) and fractional anisotropy (FA) as well as the characteristics of myofiber orientation including helix, transverse and E2A sheet angle (HA, TA, E2A)., Results: MD and FA were found to be significantly different between CA patients and healthy controls (MD 1.77 ± 0.17 10 - 3 vs 1.41 ± 0.07 10 - 3  mm 2 /s, p <  0.001; FA 0.25 ± 0.04 vs 0.35 ± 0.03, p <  0.001). MD demonstrated an excellent correlation with native T1 (r = 0.908, p <  0.001) while FA showed a significant correlation with ECV in the CA population (r = - 0.851, p <  0.002). HA exhibited a more circumferential orientation of myofibers in CA patients, in conjunction with a higher TA standard deviation and a higher absolute E2A sheet angle. The transmural HA slope was found to be strongly correlated with the global longitudinal strain (r = 0.921, p < 0.001)., Conclusion: CMR DTI reveals significant alterations of scalar diffusion metrics in CA patients versus healthy controls. Elevated MD and lower FA values indicate myocardial disarray with higher diffusion in CA that correlates well with native T1 and ECV measures. In CA patients, CMR DTI showed pronounced circumferential orientation of the myofibers, which may provide the rationale for the reduction of global longitudinal strain that occurs in amyloidosis patients. Accordingly, CMR DTI captures specific features of amyloid infiltration, which provides a deeper understanding of the microstructural consequences of CA.

3-Deoxyglucosone (3-DG) is a metabolite from sugar degradation obtained by the Maillard reaction. It is an important precursor compound in Strecker reactionism that directly leads to known beer aging indicators and can influence the final sensory beer quality. However, the conditions of 3-DG formation in the malting process have not yet been described. To investigate the reaction pathways of 3-DG formation, we varied the composition of reactants (sugars, amino acids) by using different malting modification levels (germination time 5-7 d; steeping degree 42-45%; germination temperature 12-14 °C); final kilning temperature (60 °C to 100 °C). After its derivatization with ortho-phenylenediamine, we analyzed 3-DG with HPLC-UV. 3-DG concentration was between 5 and 120 µmol/100 g dry weight. The formation of 3-DG increased for high malt modification levels and high final kilning temperature. The abundant formation of 3-DG in the malting process is already comparable to the occurred brewing process concentration., (Copyright © 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Competing Interests: Competing interests: None declared.

Objectives: To study inter-individual differences of the relation between diaphragm and heart motion, the objective of the present study was to implement respiratory navigation on the heart and compare it against the established method of navigator gating on the diaphragm for single-voxel cardiac 1 H-MRS., Materials and Methods: 1 H-MRS was performed on a 1.5T system in 19 healthy volunteers of mixed age (range 24-75 years). Spectra were recorded in a 6-8 ml voxel in the ventricular septum using a PRESS (point-resolved spectroscopy) sequence and ECG gating. Water-unsuppressed data acquired with pencil beam navigation on the heart were compared to data with navigation on the diaphragm. Water-suppressed data were obtained to assess triglyceride-to-water ratios., Results: Water phase and amplitude fluctuations for cardiac versus diaphragm navigation did not reveal significant differences. Both navigator positions provided comparable triglyceride-to-water ratios and gating efficiencies (coefficient of variation (CoV) 7.0%). The cardiac navigator showed a good reproducibility (CoV 5.2%)., Discussion: Respiratory navigation on the heart does not convey an advantage over diaphragm-based navigator gating for cardiac 1 H-MRS, but also no disadvantage. Consequently, cardiac and diaphragm respiratory navigation may be used interchangeably.

Fusarium spp. are ubiquitous field pathogens, which are known to affect quality characteristics of cereals. Infections with Fusarium pathogens in brewing cereals are problematic and augur for a poor malt quality. The negative effects of Fusarium infections are various. Besides causing agronomic losses, kernel discoloration, and the production of several mycotoxins, Fusarium spp. are known to enhance the proteolytic activity of infected barley malt. Enhanced proteolysis can be observed in higher values in free amino nitrogen (FAN) as well as in soluble nitrogen. Previous studies showed that, in recent crop years, the predominant Fusarium spp. detected in European malt was F. avenaceum. This study focuses on the changes in the albumin fraction during the malting process of barley samples artificially infected with F. avenaceum in comparison to uninfected control samples. The barley samples were grown under controlled conditions in a greenhouse, and two different sample types were studied: One was not infected with Fusarium spores whereas the other sample was inoculated during anthesis with a spore suspension of F. avenaceum. Malting trials were carried out in a micromalting facility under defined conditions. To monitor the changes in protein profiles due to Fusarium infection, samples were analyzed at different stages of the malting process: barley (raw grain), poststeeping, postgermination, and postkilning. To evaluate the changes in the protein composition, different fractionation techniques (Osborne fractionation, isoelectric focusing, and capillary gel electrophoresis) were utilized. The albumins of the Osborne fractionation were further analyzed as they represent the main metabolically active proteins. Protein maps of the different malting steps were plotted with a custom-programmed visualization tool for comparing the infected and uninfected samples at each malting step. The results elucidate the changes in the albumin fraction during the malting process and reveal the influence of Fusarium infection on the albumin composition of barley, barley malt, and the intermediate products of malting., (Copyright © 2019 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Purpose: Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) is characterized by a heterogeneous morphology and variable prognosis. A mismatch between left ventricular mass (LVM) and microvascular circulation with corresponding relative ischemia has been implicated to cause myocardial replacement fibrosis that deteriorates prognosis. Besides parametric T1 mapping, Cardiovascular Magnetic Resonance (CMR) T2* mapping is able to identify ischemia as well as fibrosis in cardiac and extracardiac diseases. Therefore, we aimed to investigate the value of T2* mapping to characterize structural alterations in patients with HCM., Methods: CMR was performed on a 1.5 T MR imaging system (Achieva, Philips, Best, Netherlands) using a 5-channel coil in patients with HCM (n = 103, 50.6 ± 16.4 years) and in age- and gender-matched controls (n = 20, 44.8 ± 16.9 years). T2* mapping (1 midventricular short axis slice) was acquired in addition to late gadolinium enhancement (LGE). T2* values were compared between patients with HCM and controls as well as between HCM patients with- and without fibrosis., Results: HCM patients showed significantly decreased T2* values compared to controls (26.2 ± 4.6 vs. 31.3 ± 4.3 ms, p < 0.001). Especially patients with myocardial fibrosis presented with decreased T2* values in comparison to those without fibrosis (25.2 ± 4.0 vs. 28.7 ± 5.3 ms, p = 0.003). A regression model including maximum wall thickness, LVM and T2* values provided good overall diagnostic accuracy of 80% to diagnose HCM with and without fibrosis., Conclusion: In this study, parametric mapping identified lower T2* values in HCM patients compared to controls, especially in a sub-group of patients with myocardial fibrosis. As myocardial fibrosis has been suggested to influence prognosis of patients with HCM, T2* mapping may add information for identifying a higher risk sub-group of HCM patients.

Due to changing consumer habits, non-alcoholic beer is the fastest-growing market within the beverage industry. Different processing technologies for limiting the alcohol content of beer yield in completely different matrix compositions and sensory profiles. Especially the specific sensory attributes of palate fullness, mouthfeel, and the perception of harmony (ratio harmony between sweetness and sourness) of non-alcoholic beers are often described as atypical and unbalanced by the consumer. In addition to technological aspects, the matrix components represent a significant factor. Cereal-based beverages contain a complex mixture of various polymers that includes proteins, polyphenols, and polysaccharides. These polymers affect the sensory perception of beverages in terms of mouthfeel depending on their substance properties. This article reports the analytical characterization of the macromolecular profile of non-alcoholic beers to predict sensory differences in palate fullness and mouthfeel that arise because of variations in polymer profile and processing method. Therefore, asymmetric flow-field-flow-fractionation (FFF/AF4), multi-angle light-scattering (MALS), and refractive index measurements were used to characterize polymers in non-alcoholic beers. We observed significant differences in the ratio of low- to high-molar-mass polymers. These differences included a shift of the molar mass distribution towards higher molar masses for beers subjected to higher thermal loads during dealcoholization in a rectification column. Limited fermentation beers tended to be composed of more low-molar-mass polymers. Highly discriminating sensorial assessment schemes demonstrate the correlations between differences in macromolecular profile and specific sensory impressions like sweetness (basic taste), palate fullness and harmony. This trend is verified in the present study with spiking experiments using substances that are known to influence mouthfeel and palate fullness, such as beta-glucans, dextrins, isomaltulose, and other low-molar-mass sugars, may be controlled during the production process. These results confirm that the particular sensory attributes can be influenced by different classes of cereal-based substances, especially by varying their molar mass fractions and concentrations. Maltodextrins and β-glucan are shown to enhance palate fullness. Spiking with maltodextrin caused a lasting, smooth, and pleasant perception of mouthfeel; spiking with β-glucan resulted in a more viscous, thick perceived mouthfeel. However, spiking with isomaltulose led solely to a sweet taste (basic taste). These tests show more generally that AF4-MALS is a suitable analytical tool for understanding how the macromolecular fractions in cereal-based beverages are linked to sensory impressions. This type of assessment can be used to target the composition of polymer profiles, which can be a technological possibility to produce sensorily appealing high-quality non-alcoholic beers., (Copyright © 2018. Published by Elsevier Ltd.)

Background: Cardiac involvement of amyloidosis leads to left-ventricular (LV) wall thickening with progressive heart failure requiring rehospitalization. Cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR) is a valuable tool to non-invasively assess myocardial thickening as well as structural changes. Proton CMR spectroscopy ( 1 H-CMRS) additionally allows assessing metabolites including triglycerides (TG) and total creatine (CR). However, opposing results exist regarding utilization of these metabolites in LV hypertrophy or thickening. Therefore, the aim of this study was to measure metabolic alterations using 1 H-CMRS in a group of patients with thickened myocardium caused by cardiac amyloidosis., Methods: 1 H-CMRS was performed on a 1.5 T system (Achieva, Philips Healthcare, Best, The Netherlands) using a 5-channel receive coil in 11 patients with cardiac amyloidosis (60.5 ± 11.4 years, 8 males) and 11 age- and gender-matched controls (63.2 ± 8.9 years, 8 males). After cardiac morphology and function assessment, proton spectra from the interventricular septum (IVS) were acquired using a double-triggered PRESS sequence. Post-processing was performed using a customized reconstruction pipeline based on ReconFrame (GyroTools LLC, Zurich, Switzerland). Spectra were fitted in jMRUI/AMARES and the ratios of triglyceride-to-water (TG/W) and total creatine-to-water (CR/W) were calculated., Results: Besides an increased LV mass and a thickened IVS concomitant to the disease characteristics, patients with cardiac amyloidosis presented with decreased global longitudinal (GLS) and circumferential (GCS) strain. LV ejection fraction was preserved relative to controls (60.0 ± 13.2 vs. 66.1 ± 4.3%, p = 0.17). Myocardial TG/W ratios were significantly decreased compared to controls (0.53 ± 0.23 vs. 0.80 ± 0.26%, p = 0.015). CR/W ratios did not show a difference between both groups, but a higher standard deviation in patients with cardiac amyloidosis was observed. Pearson correlation revealed a negative association between elevated LV mass and TG/W (R = - 0.59, p = 0.004) as well as GCS (R = - 0.48, p = 0.025)., Conclusions: A decrease in myocardial TG/W can be detected in patients with cardiac amyloidosis alongside impaired cardiac function with an association to the degree of myocardial thickening. Accordingly, 1 H-CMRS may provide an additional diagnostic tool to gauge progression of cardiac amyloidosis along with standard imaging sequences., Trial Registration: EK 2013-0132.

Despite years of research, sensory deterioration during beer aging remains a challenge to brewing chemists. Therefore, sensorial and analytical tools to investigate aging flavors are required. This review aims to summarize the available analytical methods and to highlight the problems associated with addressing the flavor-stability of beer. Carbonyls are the major contributors to the aroma of aged pale lager beer, which is especially susceptible to deterioration. They are formed via known pathways during storage, but, as recent research indicates, are mainly released from the bound-state during aging. However, most published studies are based on model systems, and thus the formation and breakdown parameters of these adducts are poorly understood. This concept has not been previously considered in previous forced-aging analysis. Only weak parallels can be drawn between forced and natural aging. This is likely due to the different activation energies of the chemical processes responsible for aging, but may also be due to heat-promoted release of bound aldehydes. Thus, precursors and their binding parameters must be investigated to make appropriate technological adjustments to forced-aging experiments. In combination with sophisticated data analysis, the investigation of volatile indicators and non-volatile precursors can lead to more reliable predictions of flavor stability.

For the past 100 years, polyphenol research has played a central role in brewing science. The class of phenolic substances comprises simple compounds built of 1 phenolic group as well as monomeric and oligomeric flavonoid compounds. As potential anti- or prooxidants, flavor precursors, flavoring agents and as interaction partners with other beer constituents, they influence important beer quality characteristics: flavor, color, colloidal, and flavor stability. The reactive potential of polyphenols is defined by their basic chemical structure, hydroxylation and substitution patterns and degree of polymerization. The quantitative and qualitative profile of phenolic substances in beer is determined by raw material choice. During the malting and brewing process, phenolic compounds undergo changes as they are extracted or enzymatically released, are subjected to heat-induced chemical reactions or are precipitated with or adsorbed to hot and cold trub, yeast cells and stabilization agents. This review presents the current state of knowledge of the composition of phenolic compounds in beer and brewing raw materials with a special focus on their fate from raw materials throughout the malting and brewing process to the final beer. Due to high-performance analytical techniques, new insights have been gained on the structure and function of phenolic substance groups, which have hitherto received little attention. This paper presents important information and current studies on the potential of phenolics to interact with other beer constituents and thus influence quality parameters. The structural features which determine the reactive potential of phenolic substances are discussed., (© 2018 Institute of Food Technologists®.)

Aims: The aim of this study was to determine the value of T2 mapping for the non-invasive assessment of myocardial inflammation in different stages of systolic left ventricular dysfunction in dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM) in comparison with endomyocardial biopsy (EMB)., Methods and Results: A total of 132 subjects were enrolled between 2013 and 2016 (62 controls and 70 patients with DCM). All patients underwent CMR at 1.5 T and received coronary angiogram and EMB. CMR applied standard protocols including T2 mapping with Gradient And SpinEcho sequence (GRASE). Global T2 relaxation time was significantly increased in patients with DCM compared to the healthy controls (T2 time DCM vs. controls: 65.9 ± 6.2 vs. 60.0 ± 4.2 ms; P < 0.001). Of note, patients with the presence of inflammatory cells in EMB exhibited further elevation of T2 values (T2 time in patients with the presence of inflammatory cells vs. T2 time in patients without: 68.8 ± 5.8 vs. 64.7 ± 5.9 ms; P = 0.02). Receiver operating characteristic analysis of our data deciphered a global myocardial T2 time >65.3 ms as the best cut-off for distinction between the healthy controls and patients with myocardial inflammation [sensitivity 93%, specificity 90%, P < 0.01, area under the curve (AUC) 0.95]. In patients with DCM, this threshold identified patients with biopsy-proven inflammation with a sensitivity of 79% and specificity 58% (AUC 0.72)., Conclusion: In patients with DCM and presence of inflammatory cells in the myocardium, myocardial T2 relaxation times may help to non-invasively detect myocardial inflammation. Although there is an overlap of T2 values between patients and healthy controls, T2 mapping may facilitate the identification of patients who may benefit from EMB for therapeutic decision-making.

Cereal-based beverages contain a complex mixture of various polymeric macromolecules including polysaccharides, peptides, and polyphenols. The molar mass of polymers and their degradation products affect different technological and especially sensory parameters of beverages. Asymmetrical flow field-flow fractionation (AF4) coupled with multi-angle light scattering (MALS) and refractive index detection (dRI) or UV detection (UV) is a technique for structure and molar mass distribution analysis of macromolecules commonly used for pure compound solutions. The objective of this study was to develop a systematic approach for identifying the polymer classes in an AF4//MALS/dRI/UV fractogram of the complex matrix in beer, a yeast-fermented cereal-based beverage. Assignment of fractogram fractions to polymer substance classes was achieved by targeted precipitations, enzymatic hydrolysis, and alignments with purified polymer standards. Corresponding effects on dRI and UV signals were evaluated according to the detector's sensitivities. Using these techniques, the AF4 fractogram of beer was classified into different fractions: (1) the low molar mass fraction was assigned to proteinaceous molecules with different degrees of glycosylation, (2) the middle molar mass fraction was attributed to protein-polyphenol complexes with a coelution of non-starch polysaccharides, and (3) the high molar mass fraction was identified as a mixture of the cell wall polysaccharides (i.e., β-glucan and arabinoxylan) with a low content of polysaccharide-protein association. In addition, dextrins derived from incomplete starch hydrolysis were identified in all fractions and over the complete molar mass range. The ability to assess the components of an AF4 fractogram is beneficial for the targeted design and evaluation of polymers in fermented cereal-based beverages and for controlling and monitoring quality parameters.