Microflora during malting of Barley: Overview and Impact on malt quality

Abstract

Malt is an important industrial product with a huge market outlet. The diverse microbial communities naturally colonizing barley grains greatly infl uence malt quality and subsequently other products in the malt value chain, in particular beer. In this manuscript, an overview is given of current knowledge of barley and malt-derived microorganisms and their impact on malt properties. In addition, emphasis is put on strategies to enhance the malting process, including the use of starter cultures and the management of endogenous microfl ora. Molecular studies on microbial community composition and function throughout the process will contribute to effi cient implementation of these strategies, ultimately leading to more effi cient wort production and enhanced beer fl avour quality and stability. More specifi cally, these studies may lead to the discovery of novel, industrially important microbial strains or enzymes.