Application of a novel antioxidative assay in beer analysis and brewing process monitoring.

A novel antioxidative assay based on direct current polarography has been developed. Quantification of antioxidative (AO) activity has been based on a decrease of hydrogen peroxide anodic current in the presence of antioxidants. An efficient experimental procedure, without any special pretreatment of analyzed samples, has been applied. Antioxidative activity of different kinds of commercial beers (dark, blond, and alcohol-free), some small-scale made special beers with medicinal herbs and mushroom extracts, extracts themselves, as well as individual phenolic components present in beer has been measured. In addition, changes of AO activity during the full-scale industrial process of beer production have been monitored. A strong correlation between results obtained and total phenolics content has been observed. The assay can be recommended for application in brewing industry, either to survey a process with the aim to optimize relevant technological factors or to analyze quality of final product.