Why bean beer?

Beer can be a wholesome beverage, and the art of brewing beer has been intertwined with the development of civilised society for centuries. Today, the latest valuation of the economic value of beer (by accountants Ernst and Young in 2013), reported that Europe is the world’s biggest producer of beer with over 4,500 breweries delivering around 390 million hectolitres annually – which in plain English is 68,632,200,000 pints (since 1 hectolitre is a small spillage less than 176 imperial pints). The industry employs over 2 million people, and around 125,000 of these are employed in breweries themselves. It should also be no surprise then that sales generated 53 billion Euro, which is almost doubled again by the value added from the supply chain. Also, the EU brewing sector had a trade surplus (i.e. exports were greater than imports) to the value of 3 billion Euro in 2012. Beer is serious business

More than a meat- or synthetic nitrogen fertiliser-substitute: a review of legume phytochemicals as drivers of ‘One Health’ via their influence on the functional diversity of soil- and gut-microbes

Legumes are essential to healthy agroecosystems, with a rich phytochemical content that impacts overall human and animal well-being and environmental sustainability. While these phytochemicals can have both positive and negative effects, legumes have traditionally been bred to produce genotypes with lower levels of certain plant phytochemicals, specifically those commonly termed as ‘antifeedants’ including phenolic compounds, saponins, alkaloids, tannins, and raffinose family oligosaccharides (RFOs). However, when incorporated into a balanced diet, such legume phytochemicals can offer health benefits for both humans and animals. They can positively influence the human gut microbiome by promoting the growth of beneficial bacteria, contributing to gut health, and demonstrating anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties. Beyond their nutritional value, legume phytochemicals also play a vital role in soil health. The phytochemical containing residues from their shoots and roots usually remain in-field to positively affect soil nutrient status and microbiome diversity, so enhancing soil functions and benefiting performance and yield of following crops. This review explores the role of legume phytochemicals from a ‘one health’ perspective, examining their on soil- and gut-microbial ecology, bridging the gap between human nutrition and agroecological science

Integrated policy analysis to identify transformation paths to more-sustainable legume-based food and feed value-chains in Europe

The food- and feed-value systems in the European Union are not protein self-sufficient. Despite their potential to improve the well-being of arable cropping systems, sufficient production of high-protein legume grains in Europe has not been achieved due to multiple barriers. The reasons are multiple and span economic, agronomic, research, and extension services, as well as aspects of culture and traditional dietary habits. Given the well-documented advantages of legume-supported production systems and diets, that include ecosystem and health provisions, acknowledging and promoting legumes as cornerstone species for more sustainable agri-food systems is a necessary and logical step. This paper provides an integrated analysis of case studies and current policies that shape the production and consumption of legumes in Europe. This study identified three key pathways, which can be integrated into sustainable farming systems to support current and future food security challenges via the use of legumes and legume-based products. At each pathway, we identified several enablers that support the sustainability transformation of legume production and consumption in Europe.N/

Editorial: transitions to sustainable food-and feed-systems

info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Optimised processing of faba bean (<i>Vicia faba L.</i>) kernels as a brewing adjunct

Pulse (Fabaceae) grains, such as peas and beans, are derived from crops that are usually cultivated in the absence of mineral nitrogen fertiliser as these crops can obtain their nitrogen requirement naturally from the air via biological nitrogen fixation. Therefore, pulses present a significantly lower greenhouse gas (GHG) footprint than crops demanding nitrogen fertiliser, whilst also offering significant quantities of starch for the brewing and distilling industries. Mitigation of agriculture derived GHG emissions through utilisation of pulses can have a positive environmental impact. To this end, the potential of exploiting dry, dehulled faba bean (Vicia faba L.) kernel flour as an adjunct for beer production was evaluated. The impact of different temperature regimes and commercial enzymes were assessed for their effect on wort: viscosity; run-off rate; primary amino nitrogen content and, fermentability. Faba beans demonstrated insufficient endogenous enzyme capacity for starch conversion and generated a viscous wort. However, using a stepped temperature mashing regime and exogenous enzyme additions, the faba bean wort was comparable in processability and fermentability to that of 100% malted barley wort. The faba based beer and co-product qualities demonstrate the environmental, nutritional and commercial potential of pulses in brewing.</p

Environmental impacts of Scottish faba bean-based beer in an integrated beer and animal feed value chain

Beer is one of themost popular drinks globally and productionmethods clearly need to becomemore sustainable. The brewing of legume grains could contribute to improved sustainability through encouraging the diversification of cropped systems and by providing more nutritious local co-products as animal feed. The aim of this studywas to assess the potential environmental effect of partially substituting malted barley with grain legumes as an option to mitigate the environmental impact of beer. A Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) was performed to compare a novel Scottish beer produced with malted barley and UK-grown faba beans with a traditional malted barley beer. Weconsidered beer production as part of amulti-functional beer and animal feed value chain, where coproducts are used as a high-protein UK-grown animal feed. The environmental performances of the different beers were highly dependent on the system boundaries adopted. The simple attributional LCA indicated that a barley-bean beer could offer environmental savingswhen alcohol yields are optimised, with environmental burdens that were significantly smaller than those of the barley beer across 6 categories. When boundarieswere expanded to include both feed substitution and agricultural rotations, the barley-bean beer with current alcohol yields outperformed the barley beer across 8 impact categories, with a 15 %-17 % smaller climate change burden, mainly due to higher feed substitution achieved froma larger volumeof brewing co-productswith higher protein concentrations. Therefore, brewers should consider the use of legumes in their brewing recipes to lower their environmental footprint, increasing the availability of more nutritious beer co-products as a local source of animal feed, and diversifying cropping systems while adding novelty to their product range. Different boundaries settings and scenarios should be assessed in a beer LCA, and entire cropping rotations should be integrated to capture a more accurate picture of the agricultural stage.(c) 2022 Published by Elsevier Ltd on behalf of Institution of Chemical Engineers

Utilization of low nitrogen barley for production of distilling quality malt

The potential to utilize low nitrogen barley for production of distilling quality malt was studied. This presents an opportunity to reduce the environmental impact of nitrogen fertilizer applications. Malting barley (cv. Octavia) was grown without the application of inorganic nitrogen fertilizer, to produce grain with a relatively low nitrogen concentration (1.16%, dry weight basis). Following micro-malting trials, dextrinizing units (58 DU) obtained from low nitrogen malt were much higher than a typical specification of 45 DU for malt with a conventional nitrogen concentration (&lt;1.5%). A higher soluble nitrogen ratio (SNR) or index of modification (IoM) of 49 indicated greater modification of the low nitrogen barley, resulting in higher extract released into the wort. Additionally, much lower levels of β-glucan were found in low nitrogen malt wort (64 mg/L compared with over 100 mg/L in wort of conventional nitrogen malt). Low nitrogen malt also produced higher predicted spirit yields following wort fermentation and wash distillation. These findings indicate that lower nitrogen concentration barley can be processed without negatively impacting malt quality for distilling applications. The implication of these findings to help realize more environmentally sustainable production of barley for malting and use in distilling is discussed.</p

Evidence of neutral transcriptome evolution in plants

The transcriptome of an organism is its set of gene transcripts (mRNAs) at a defined spatial and temporal locus. Because gene expression is affected markedly by environmental and developmental perturbations, it is widely assumed that transcriptome divergence among taxa represents adaptive phenotypic selection. This assumption has been challenged by neutral theories which propose that stochastic processes drive transcriptome evolution. To test for evidence of neutral transcriptome evolution in plants, we quantified 18 494 gene transcripts in nonsenescent leaves of 14 taxa of Brassicaceae using robust cross-species transcriptomics which includes a two-step physical and in silicobased normalization procedure based on DNA similarity among taxa. Transcriptome divergence correlates positively with evolutionary distance between taxa and with variation in gene expression among samples. Results are similar for pseudogenes and chloroplast genes evolving at different rates. Remarkably, variation in transcript abundance among root-cell samples correlates positively with transcriptome divergence among root tissues and among taxa. Because neutral processes affect transcriptome evolution in plants, many differences in gene expression among or within taxa may be nonfunctional, reflecting ancestral plasticity and founder effects. Appropriate null models are required when comparing transcriptomes in space and time

Myxospermous seed-mucilage quantity correlates with environmental gradients indicative of water-deficit stress: Plantago species as a model

Abstract Aims Myxospermous seed mucilage is multifunctional and is often found in seeds (or achenes) of species occupying arid environments where the trait may influence seed-dispersal and -germination of seeds. The seed mucilage may also enhance soil-water retention, −hydraulic conductivity and -stability. However, the relationship between seed mucilage quantity, seed germination and seedling traits across environmental gradients which determine water-deficit stress has not yet been ascertained. Methods Therefore, we characterised and tested the relationship between seed mucilage quantity, water-deficit stress responses of seeds and seedlings of 36 accessions of four different Plantago species (P. albicans L., P. coronopus L., P. lagopus L. and P. anceolata L.). These were gathered from six regions across Europe, which presented environmental gradients (of rainfall and temperature), and varying soil qualities. Results Seed mucilage was significantly greater in seeds of accessions experiencing: highest summer temperatures; lowest summer precipitation; soils of the same warm dry regions which had greater capacity to retain water within narrow pore spaces. Under water-deficit stress, seeds with most mucilage exhibited a lower base water potential for germination, suffered least seedling mortality and exhibited the most successful seedling development. Conclusions The findings indicate that seed mucilage quantity appeared as an 'adaptive' trait and there is a relationship between seed-mucilage quantity, seed germination plus seedling survival and development under environmental conditions of highest water-deficit stress