<<Disclaimer: Verify this information before applying it to your situation.>>
The thread I started in the food-science newsgroup on barley amylase has
continued to run. Here is what has transpired since my last post:
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From: [log in to unmask] (Jay Mann)
Date: 8 Jun 1995 04:33:27 GMT
I'm pretty sure that the sake process involves hydrolysis of rice starch by
a fungus, Aspergillus from memory, but perhaps another species. Why are you
concerned about barley amylase? By the way, the usual commercial term for
barley amylase is "malt" as sold by homebrew shops.
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From: [log in to unmask] (Jeremy Ballard Bergsman)
Date: 8 Jun 1995 09:43:09 -0700
Jay Mann <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> By the way, the usual commercial term for
>barley amylase is "malt" as sold by homebrew shops.
"Malt" refers to malted barley. Barley amylase is an enzyme contained
in malted barley.
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From: [log in to unmask] (Don Wiss)
Date: Thu, 08 Jun 1995 13:25:39 GMT
As a celiac I avoid all possible sources of wheat, rye, barley and oats.
The discussion of which alcoholic beverages are totally free of gluten is
currently taking place on the celiac mailing list, and I am seeking
information which I can forward to them. That is why the interest in sake
and potato vodka, as these have been considered gluten-free.
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From: [log in to unmask] (Mikael Larsson)
Date: 9 Jun 1995 07:08:54 GMT
As you probably know, vodka, whisky etc (but not sake) are produced
by distillation. My mental image of gluten is a kind of really big
molecule and I find it very hard to believe that such a molecule could
be transferred to the distilled product even if the fermented raw
material included gluten.
Could any chemist out there corroborate this? What kind of stuff is
gluten anyway (polysaccharide, protein ...)?
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From: [log in to unmask] (Don Wiss)
Date: Fri, 09 Jun 1995 12:01:24 GMT
[log in to unmask] (Mikael Larsson) wrote:
>As you probably know, vodka, whisky etc (but not sake) are produced
>by distillation.
I did not know how sake was produced, but do know that barley amylase is
used in the making of Rice Dream products, which are dairy substitutes.
> My mental image of gluten is a kind of really big
>molecule and I find it very hard to believe that such a molecule could
>be transferred to the distilled product even if the fermented raw
>material included gluten.
I believe the molecule is large, and many agree with you about the
inability of it to make it through the distillation process. The American
celiac associations prohibit the distilled gluten grain beverages based on
anectodal reports of reactions (including myself). Other country's groups
say these beverages are okay. The same policy differences and argument
apply to vinegar that is distilled from grain. These are never ending
debates, and American celiacs argue that it is better to be safe and avoid
them.
As for vinegar, someone once said that the end product included more that
just the distillate. He heard that some of starting liquid was added to the
end for flavor.
> Could any chemist out there corroborate this?
More comment appreciated.
> What kind of stuff is gluten anyway (polysaccharide, protein ...)?
Protein. The actual fraction that is toxic is called gliadin.
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From: [log in to unmask] (Shankar Bhattacharyya)
Date: 9 Jun 1995 20:06:05 -0400
Mikael Larsson <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>Could any chemist out there corroborate this? What kind of stuff is
>gluten anyway (polysaccharide, protein ...)?
Food chemist here. Analytical chemistry of food, anyway.
Gluten is a healthy sized protein. It will not distil over. However,
whether distilled liquors consist solely of the clean distillate I don't
know.
Also, relatively casual distillations sometimes transfer stuff from the pot,
carried over as a mist. When liquids boil, bubbles bursting at the surface
throw a mist into the headspace, in small quantities. In casual, short path
distillations, some can make it over. In a competent distillation none
should, but I don't know about process control. I just analyze stuff.
It would be easy to check, by the way. Take some of the distilled liquor,
dilute it with water, and test with ninhydrin. Get a biochemist to do it
for you. It should be fairly trivial to do. Just watch out for cross
contamination. There is enough protein in a fingerprint to mess this up.
[Editor's note: Shankar's 'Net provider is in Hackensack, NJ]
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From: [log in to unmask] (Jay D Mann)
Date: 9 Jun 1995 20:08:35 GMT
Wait a minute, isn't vodka a distilled product, same as gin and whiskey?
How does nonvolatile cereal protein get into these, unless the manufacturers
intentionally back-blend some undistilled liquor into the distilled
alcohol?
Sake, on the other hand, is a fermented non-distilled product.
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Don <[log in to unmask]> New York City
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