all adjuncts in liquid form
Spectrophotometric color determination of a previously diluted sample (10 % solution, refer to R-160.01.005 Extraktgehalt von flüssigen Malzersatzstoffen).
Hops and hop products intended for use in beer brewing or elsewhere in the food industry
After extraction with toluene, the α-acids and β-acids in the hops and hop pellets are determined using spectrophotometry.
Malt intended for use in beer brewing or elsewhere in the food industry
Using a buffer solution, malt extract is produced, and then under defined conditions the extract is incubated on a specific substrate of BPNPG7 oligosaccharide (a p-nitropheny-maltoheptaoside blocked at the non-reducing end) in the presence of thermostable α-glucosidase. The α-glucosidase is initially unable to degrade the "blocked" oligosaccharide. Only when the oligosaccharide is hydrolyzed by the activity of the α-amylase (an endoenzyme) from the malt are the resulting fragments vulnerable to the enzyme. Then, they are quantitatively degraded to glucose and free p-nitrophenol by the α-glucosidase, which is present in excess.
Adding a weakly alkaline solution halts the enzymatic activity and simultaneously induces a color reaction. The absorbance measured at 400 nm is proportional to the activity of α-amylase in the sample.
Malt intended for use in beer brewing or elsewhere in the food industry
Using a buffer solution, malt extract is produced, and then under defined conditions the extract is incubated on an azo-barley glucan substrate. The substrate is coupled with an azo dye, which is degraded by the β-glucanase activity to form low-molecular weight fragments. After addition of the precipitating agent, these fragments stay in solution and can be spectrophotometrically determined in the supernatant after centrifugation. The absorbance in the supernatant depends directly upon the activity of the β-glucanase in the analyzed malt.
Water intended for use as an ingredient in the production of beer (brewing liquor) or other foods
The nickel content is determined by employing a flameless method which utilizes graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrophotometry. This technique is suitable for determining the nickel content of water with very little nickel contamination. Any matrix effects can be eliminated by using the standard additions calibration technique.
An aliquot of the sample is dosed into a graphite tube and is subsequently subjected to a program comprising a three-step temperature regime through electrothermic resistance heating. As the temperature increases in each step, the consecutive steps include drying, matrix pyrolysis (incineration) and thermal dissociation into free atoms (atomization). These can be carried out separately. During the analysis, the graphite tube is under an inert gas atmosphere (argon).
Also important for graphite furnace AAS is background correction, which can be achieved using a continuum radiation source (deuterium) or through the Zeemann effect. Background correction with the Zeemann effect is used for particularly difficult sample matrices.
A hollow-cathode lamp usually serves as the light source.
Water intended for use as an ingredient in the production of beer (brewing liquor) or other foods
The hydride technique is used to determine the concentration of selenium ions in the water sample. In this process, selenium ions are reduced by sodium tetrahydroborate in an acidic medium. This compound is then transferred using an inert gas into a heated quartz cuvette, where it is pyrolyzed and measured using AAS.