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Sugars (Mashing related)
Sugars (Mashing related)
Monosaccharides also called simple sugars, are the simplest form of sugar and the most basic units (monomers) of carbohydrates.
Contrary to their name (sugars), only some monosaccharides have a sweet taste.
Examples of monosaccharides include glucose (dextrose), fructose (levulose), and galactose.
The fructose represents 1-2% of the carbohydrates in the wort.
Disaccharide (also called a double sugar or biose) is the sugar formed when two monosaccharides are joined by glycosidic linkage.
Like monosaccharides, disaccharides are simple sugars soluble in water. Three common examples are sucrose, lactose, and maltose.
Maltose is the principal sugar in wort and is derived from the breakdown of starch during the mashing process.
The sucrose represents 4-8% of the carbohydrates in the wort. Sucrose is normally inverted into fructose and glucose during fermentation.
Maltose, also known as maltobiose or malt sugar, is a disaccharide formed from two units of glucose joined with an α-(1→4) glycosidic bonds.
Another way that glucose molecules can join is by the 1st and 6th carbon atoms, called the α-(1→6) glycosidic bonds, forming the isomer isomaltose.
Polysaccharides or polycarbohydrates, are the most abundant carbohydrate found in food. They are long chain polymeric carbohydrates composed of monosaccharide units bound together by glycosidic linkages. This carbohydrate can react with water (hydrolysis) using amylase enzymes as catalyst, which produces constituent sugars (monosaccharides, or oligosaccharides). Examples include storage polysaccharides such as starch, glycogen and galactogen.
Dextrins are a group of low-molecular-weight carbohydrates produced by the hydrolysis of starch or glycogen. Dextrins are mixtures of polymers of D-glucose units linked by α-(1→4) or α-(1→6) glycosidic bonds.
Dextrins can be produced from starch using enzymes like amylases, as during digestion in the human body and during malting and mashing, or by applying dry heat under acidic conditions (pyrolysis or roasting). The latter process is used industrially, and also occurs on the surface of bread during the baking process, contributing to flavor, color and crispness.
Dextrins produced by heat are also known as pyrodextrins (Maillard Reaction). The starch hydrolyses during roasting under acidic conditions, and short-chained starch parts partially rebranch with α-(1,6) bonds to the degraded starch molecule.
Dextrins from groups 1, 2 and 3 do not react with iodine. Dextrins from group 4 react with iodine producing a reddish color.
More complex and larger chains will react with iodine and produce a dark blue tint.
Due to this complexity, dextrins are not normally metabolized by brewer's yeast.
Groups of polysaccharides
Groups of polysaccharides
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