Liquefaction and saccharification of starch. Enzymatic grain mash: cold saccharification and hot

1. What enzymes are used and why?

Enzymes came to home distilling from industry. Their use in industry is due to a reduction in complexity, an increase in the stability of technological processes, an acceleration of the production process and an increase in the yield of alcohol compared to using traditional methods. The use of a full range of enzyme preparations makes it possible to obtain the maximum amount of alcohol from raw materials, as well as to reduce the content of foreign components in the wort, which positively affects the organoleptic quality of the distillate.

Modern industry uses enzyme preparations for liquefaction and saccharification of raw materials:

• Amylosubtilin GZx (AmiloLux, "A") - to liquefy raw materials and prepare them for the action of other enzymes
• Glukavamorin GZh (GlukaLyuks-A, "G") - for starch saccharification
• CelloLux-A ("C") - for saccharification of non-starchy polysaccharides (xylans, β-glucan, cellulose, pectins) or preparing them for the action of the above enzymes.
• Protosubtilin ("P") - for the breakdown of plant proteins, which leads to more active yeast

Thus, the minimum necessary enzymes for saccharification are Amylosubtilin and Glukavamorin. CelloLux-A and Protosubtilin perform additional saccharification and preparation for fermentation.

2. Dosage of various enzymes

Many questions are raised by the calculation of the dosage of enzyme preparations. Typically, the manufacturer or retailer lists the activity of dry enzymes in active units per gram of enzyme. There are also recommendations from the manufacturer on the dosage of enzyme active units per gram of the substance being processed. And depending on those. process, the number of enzymes can vary from minimum to maximum. Using this number, as well as using tables for starch, protein and NPS (non-starchy polysaccharides), you can calculate the reference dose of each enzyme per kilogram of raw materials.

The formula for calculating the amount of enzymes per kilogram of raw materials is as follows:

Dose of Enzyme (grams) = (P*R*10)/A

• P is the percentage of the substance being processed (for example, starch)
• R - recommended dosage of active units
• A is the activity of the drug in units per gram

It should be added that for some types of raw materials (rye) and enzymes with an expired or approaching expiration date, an increase in the dose of enzymes by 15-25% is required. Since there is practically no point in calculating the exact dosage of drugs at home, some simplifications in the calculation method can be made by taking the maximum recommended values.

The table shows the calculation of the dosage of enzymes per 1 kg of raw materials:

Violations in the dosage of drugs in the lower direction can affect the timing of the enzymes and the completeness of the processing of raw materials. At the same time, no negative consequences were observed from a slight excess of the dosage (except for overspending).

Thus, the universal recipe will be the use of 1 kg of raw materials:

• 1 gram - Amilosubtilin GZx 1500
• 1.5-2 grams - Glukavamorin GZx 3000
• 1 gram - CelloLux-A 2000
• 4-5 grams - Protosubtilin 120

3. Types of saccharification, their advantages and disadvantages

Now in home distillation, two different saccharification technologies are popular - hot and cold, so named because of the different temperatures at which starch hydrolysis occurs. During hot saccharification, the raw material is heated to temperatures of 50-70°C and in this state is exposed to enzymes for 10-20 hours. At the same time, the risk of contamination of the wort is minimal, enzymes are most effective, but this method requires a lot of effort.
With cold saccharification using enzymes, the process proceeds at temperatures close to 30°C and with simultaneous fermentation. This method is less labor-intensive, but longer, and has a greater risk of souring the mash. The graphs show the dependence of enzyme activity on temperature over time:

The range of effective action of the Amylosubtilin enzyme corresponds to the pH range of 5.0-8.0 and the temperature of 50-75°C. For the enzyme Glukavamorin effective action lies within the following limits: pH 3.0-6.5 and temperature 30-60°C.

It is worth adding that there are many intermediate methods between hot and cold saccharification, the use of which in many cases can be justified by specific conditions, the availability of components, the time spent, and other factors.

3.1 Hot saccharification (HSS)

The recipe for home brew using starch-containing raw materials and enzymes A and G:

• Prepare hot (boiling) water at the rate of ~ 6.5 liters of water per 1 kg of starch in raw materials (for cereals or crushed grains).
• Raw materials are added to hot water with constant stirring. For mixing, it is convenient to use a screwdriver or a low-speed drill with a nozzle for mixing building mixtures - a “mixer”. At the same time, in order to avoid lumps, it is best to pour directly onto the nozzle rotating in the water.
• When the mixture cools down to 75°C, half the dose of Amylosubtilin enzyme is added. Before making it can be dissolved with warm drinking water in a ratio of 1/10.
• Next, the wort is mixed from a mushy to a liquid state or for about 30 minutes.
• The wort is allowed to cool to 56-58°C and the rest of the Amylosubtilin enzyme and the Glukavamorin enzyme are added, then thoroughly mixed with a “mixer”. The enzymes work time at this stage will be about 1.5-2 hours.
• After the end of the saccharification process, the wort must be allowed to cool to a temperature of about 30 ° C. In order to prevent the wort from “infecting” during cooling, it is advisable to hermetically close the container with it.
• The wort is poured into a fermentation tank (previously disinfected), and yeast is added to it at a dosage of 2-3 grams of dry or 10-15 grams of pressed per kilogram of raw materials. Fermentation takes place under a water seal.

The active phase of fermentation will last about 3-4 days, then the mash must be periodically shaken without opening the fermentation tank.

3.2 Cold saccharification (COS)

The recipe for home brew using starch-containing raw materials and enzymes A and G without brewing:

• It is desirable to crush the raw materials and be sure to clear the chaff, if any.
• Prepare water at a temperature of about 35 ° C at the rate of ~ 6.5 liters of water per 1 kilogram of starch in the raw material (for cereals or crushed grains). It is worth considering that it is undesirable to fill the fermentation tank with mash more than 7/10 of the volume.
• Half of the prepared water is poured into the fermentation tank.
• To reduce the likelihood of contamination of the wort, it is definitely recommended to add an antibiotic - doxycycline (1 capsule per 20 liters of mash) to the water.
• Acidity is regulated within 5-5.5 pH by orthophosphoric, sulfuric or citric acids.
• Next, the enzymes Amylosubtilin and Glukavamorin are introduced into the container, according to the dosage per kilogram of starch in the raw material.
• If there is, then you can add the antifoam sofaxil - 1 ml per 20 liters of mash
• Raw materials are brought in, then everything is mixed
• Yeast is added in accordance with the manufacturer's recommendations (10 grams of dry yeast per 4-5 liters of mash).
• The rest of the water is added.

Fermentation takes place under a water seal with periodic stirring - shake (without breaking the tightness). The fermentation process takes from one and a half to three weeks. Readiness for distillation is controlled by the appearance of a film on the surface of the mash. The appearance of a film is a sign that the mash is starting to turn sour and must be distilled immediately. Ideally, the mash should be distilled shortly before the appearance of the film.

Wheat moonshine can be made without malt, without temperature pauses thanks to the enzymes alpha amylase and gluco amylase. From experience I will say that the moonshine product in this way has excellent organoleptic characteristics. In this article, I will outline the detailed technology for making moonshine from wheat flour using enzymes using a cold saccharification method.

Wheat moonshine from flour

• Wheat flour, premium - 3 kg.,
• Water - 12 liters.,
• Enzymes A and G - a tablespoon,
• Pressed baker's yeast - 100 g

Recipe for grain mash on enzymes, cold method

For cooking grain mash on enzymes first of all, you need to heat the water to the state of “warm tea”, add a tablespoon of enzymes A and G, mix well. Next, gradually add the flour, while stirring it so that lumps do not form. It is convenient to stir the flour with a construction mixer. After we fall asleep yeast, mix again. Braga can be put without a water seal, the main thing is that it would be in a warm place. During fermentation, which lasts from 4-5 days to a week, I mixed the mash several times a day with a whisk.

For the cold method of saccharification, I used dry enzymes; with liquid ones, this technology showed a lower yield of the finished product per kilogram of flour. For liquid enzymes, you need to use the method of steaming flour or cereals.

Distillation of grain mash

When the mash wins back, it must be carefully drained from the sediment, if desired, it can be clarified with bentonite or simply cooled to 3-5 degrees. Distillation of grain mash begins with the selection of raw alcohol, as usual, without separation into fractions, it is necessary to select up to 2-4%, almost to zero. As a result, I came out of 3 kg. flour - 3.3 liters of 31% raw alcohol, which is not very bad for cold saccharification.

The second distillation is fractional, the head fractions for cereals I select about 7-10% of absolute alcohol, about 90 ml. I got "heads". I usually select the middle fraction (drinking) up to 80-60% in the stream, depending on the purpose of the distillate. Wheat moonshine is diluted to 40-45%, if necessary, it can be cleaned with activated charcoal.

Purification of moonshine with coal

To clean moonshine with coal, you need 1 tbsp. l. per 1 liter of moonshine already diluted to a strength of 40-45%. Pour coal into moonshine, mix well for 5-10 minutes, leave alone for 6-12 hours, filter first through 4 layers of gauze, then through a dense cotton filter. Before tasting, moonshine should rest for several days. Wheat moonshine has a neutral aroma and with a slight shade of grain, it is easy to drink, after carbonization it has a slight vodka sharpness. An excellent product for tinctures, refining with oak chips. Separately, I recommend that you familiarize yourself with

Yeast needs sugar to produce alcohol. In grain crops, it is found in the form of starch, a polysaccharide consisting of chains of glucose, fructose and sucrose molecules. Yeast feeds only on monosaccharides (one molecule), therefore, before laying the mash, the starch molecular chain must be divided into separate molecules, otherwise there will be no fermentation.

Saccharification- this is the process of splitting starch-containing raw materials (flour, cereals, potatoes, etc.) to simple sugars under the influence of natural (from malt) or artificial (synthetic) enzymes. Due to the temperature features of the technology, the first method is called hot saccharification, the second - cold.

In most cases, grain raw materials are cheaper than pure sugar, therefore, even taking into account the lower yield, it is profitable to make mash from cereals, and the taste of grain distillate is much more pleasant than sugar. The theoretical yield of absolute alcohol from different types of crops is presented in the table.

Attention! These are theoretical values; at home, alcohol losses of up to 15% are possible.

Hot saccharification with malt

A classic method that has been used for centuries. In a humid environment, the grain germinates, which activates the necessary enzymes that can process starch. Grain sprouted to a certain state is called malt, which is of two types: green and white.

Green malt is used for saccharification of raw materials immediately after the appearance of sprouts of optimal length, but is stored for up to 3 days. If the sprouted cereal is dried, a white malt will be obtained, which can be stored much longer. Both types cope with their task with equal efficiency.

The advantage of saccharification with malt is that it takes a few hours to obtain sugar, as a result, the mash will win back faster than with the addition of artificial enzymes.

But this method has a number of disadvantages:

• a high temperature is needed at which the raw material can burn;
• it is required to maintain a stable temperature (60-72 ° C) for several hours, which is sometimes difficult at home;
• saccharified wort is subject to rapid souring.

Malt saccharification technology

1. Grains or flour are slowly poured with water at 50-55 ° C, stirring continuously so that lumps do not form. For 1 kg of raw materials, 4-5 liters of water are required. Fill the container no more than 75%.

2. Raise the temperature to 60°C and hold for 15 minutes.

3. Bring the mixture to a boil. Depending on the raw materials, cook for 60-120 minutes until a homogeneous porridge-like mass is obtained. Flour is cooked less, cereals - longer.

4. Cool the porridge to 63-70°C, add crushed malt (150 grams per 1 kg of raw material), stirring constantly.

5. When reaching 61-65°C, cover the container with a lid and wrap it in any way possible to keep warm. Maintain the specified temperature for 2-4 hours. Stir every 30 minutes for the first 50% of the time interval.

6. To prevent the raw materials from sour, lower the temperature to 25 ° C as soon as possible, add yeast (usually 5 grams of dry or 25 grams pressed per 1 kg of raw materials), install a water seal and ferment in a dark place at room temperature. Braga will play in 2-6 days.

If the temperature regime is not observed, saccharification will not occur or will be incomplete, reheating is useless, since the enzymes will lose their activity. The proportions of water, malt and yeast are approximate, exact values ​​​​and brewing time intervals depend on the recipe and type of raw material.

Cold saccharification with enzymes

Malt can be replaced with two enzymes - Amylosubtilin and Glucavamorin. The first partially breaks down molecules, the second - processes starch into sugar. The technology of cold saccharification is much simpler and cheaper than malt brewing, and the result is approximately the same. Enzymes, along with water, are simply added to the raw materials at the stage of preparing the mash. The conversion of starch to sugar and fermentation occur almost simultaneously.

Benefits of enzyme saccharification:

• easier for novice distillers who do not have special equipment;
• does not require high temperatures and compliance with temperature pauses;
• lower labor costs for the preparation of mash.

Flaws:

• requires the presence of special enzymes;
• mash fermentation time increases to 10-20 days;
• there is an opinion that the enzymes of the product are not natural and leave an aftertaste even after several distillations, so in home distillation it is better to stick to the traditional method using malt.

Cold saccharification technology

1. Add raw materials (cereals, flour, starch, pasta, etc.), water 30-35 ° C (3-4 liters per 1 kg of raw materials), Amylosubtilin and Glukavamorin enzymes (3-5 each grams per 1 kg), yeast (5 grams dry or 25 bakery pressed per 1 kg).

The container must not be filled more than 70%, active foaming is possible.

2. Stir, close with a water seal, transfer to a dark place with a temperature of 20-28°C.

3. Fermentation will begin in 1-5 hours, the first couple of days it will be active, then the intensity will decrease. Fermentation time - 7-25 days. If a thin film appears on the surface, this is a sign of souring, the mash needs to be urgently overtaken.

4. Remove the finished mash from the sediment and overtake. Clarification with bentonite is ineffective.

Depending on the recipe, other ingredients may be added to the mash: antibiotics to prevent souring, top dressing of yeast for accelerated fermentation, an acid that stabilizes the acidity of the wort and an antifoam agent. The proportions of Amylosubtilin and Glukavamorin depend on the activity of the enzymes and are indicated on the packaging by the manufacturer.

Hot saccharification is ... No, let's start with something else. If you have ever visited forums or groups of moonshiners in the social. networks, then 100% often met the abbreviations GOS and HOS. GOS is hot saccharification, and HOS is cold. Both methods are used in distillation, as well as in brewing, and they perform the same functions.

Saccharification itself is the process by which starch is broken down into simple sugars. Hot saccharification is carried out with the help of natural enzymes under the influence of temperature.

So what is the process of hot saccharification itself?

We need malt! Malt can be either green or white.

Green malt is grain that has just sprouted to the desired length. It is stored quite a bit - up to three days. If the cereal is dried, then white malt will turn out - it can be stored much longer. Both of these types handle the hot saccharification procedure equally.


The advantage of hot saccharification is a short time investment. It takes only a few hours to get sugar, and the mash wins back much faster than with HOS.

But hot saccharification also has disadvantages:

• Due to the use of high temperatures, there is a risk of burning raw materials.
• With hot saccharification, it is necessary to maintain a constant temperature for several hours, and this is quite difficult to do at home.
• Ready wort can turn sour very quickly.

Technology of hot saccharification with malt:

1. Pour water (50-55 degrees) cereals or flour so that lumps do not form - stir continuously. Calculate the amount of water based on the proportions: 4-5 liters of water per 1 kg of raw materials.
   The container must not be more than 75% full.
2. Raise the temperature to 60 degrees and maintain for 15 minutes.
3. Bring the mass to a boil and cook for about two hours until a homogeneous gruel.
4. We cool the resulting porridge to 65-70 degrees and add chopped malt to it from a proportion of 150 grams of malt per 1 kg of raw materials, constantly mix.
5. As soon as the temperature drops to 62-65 degrees, close the cooking container with a lid and wrap it with a blanket to keep warm. This temperature must be maintained for 2-4 hours, and the first half of this period is to mix the contents of the container.
6. After that, put this raw material into production as soon as possible so that it does not turn sour.

If the temperature regime is violated, hot saccharification will not succeed or will be incomplete. Upon completion, do not forget to conduct an iodine test.

Liquefaction and saccharification of starch proceed under the influence of amylase.

The composition of malt amylase includes a-amylase and b-amylase as the main enzymes.

a-amylase forms dextrins and a small amount of glucose, and b-amylase cleaves two glucose residues from the non-reducing ends of the amylopectin and amylose molecules, to which one water molecule is attached, resulting in the formation of maltose.

Recent studies have shown that b-amylase acts only from the non-aldehyde end of the chain, and therefore its activity does not decrease in the case of oxidation of the aldehyde groups of the sugar.

In the process of liquefying starch with malt amylase containing a- and b-amylase, large molecules are first cleaved by a-amylase, which breaks the chains of amylose and amylopectin at the 1-4 bond, mainly in the middle of large chains, forming particles with a large molecular weight - dextrins, as well as a small amount of glucose. Under the influence of b-amylase, dextrins continue to break down, eventually forming products that do not stain with iodine solution.

The end products of the enzymatic hydrolysis of starch are mainly represented by maltose, but also include some glucose and, in addition, up to 6-8% of low molecular weight non-saccharifiable dextrins, formed mainly at the branch points of the amylopectin molecule.

The action of b-amylase does not cause a noticeable change in the viscosity of the starch solution.

It should be noted that b-amylase cleaves amylose completely, while amylopectin, which has a branched structure, is cleaved only by 50%.

Saccharification of amylopectin begins at the ends of the side chains and stops when it reaches branching. As a result of saccharification of amylopectin with b-amylase, the stem of the molecule, devoid of branches, remains.

Undegraded amylopectin, amylodextrin, is an amylopectin with shorter side chains.

The rate of enmentative hydrolysis of starch

The rate constants of the saccharification reaction are calculated using the monomolecular reaction equation.

The mathematical dependence of the rate constant on temperature satisfies the Arrhenius equation