Thewort composition depends on the malting and mashing processes.
Both processes influence the composition of proteins and the content of
sugars. Proteins are degraded into low-molecular weight nitrogenous
compounds by proteases and peptidases; whereas sugars derivate
from the breakdown of the starch from barley due to amylase activities
(Kunze, 2004). The main part ofwort sugars (75–78%) is represented by
fermentable sugars: maltose, maltotriose, glucose, fructose and sucrose
(Stewart, 2009). Nevertheless, the complete amount of starch of the
malt is not catalyzed by wort amylases. Therefore, a non-fermentable
sugar fraction (at least 20% of the total extract) is present in the wort,
mainly represented by dextrins. Due to the complexity of the raw