Brewery spent grains (BSGs) are the residual malted grains that remain at the end of the brewing process and represents approximately 85% of the total byproducts of the beer industry.
So far, BSGs have been mainly used as animal feed, but recently there have some research on how to include them as functional ingredient for the development of bakery products. Moreover, BSGs are rich in fibers and proteins as well as phenolic compounds, all of which are beneficial for human nutrition.
In this project, cereal bars containing 12% BSG were formulated and characterized instrumentally. Moreover, 159 panelists representative of young Italian consumers evaluated the bars in a central location test, along with a commercial cereal bar. Products were first evaluated blind, and then in an informed condition where additional product‐specific nutritional and sustainability information was revealed, thus the purchase intent was determined. While the control product outperformed the BSG bar in most of the hedonic and sensory measures, the BSG sample was perceived as “natural/made with natural ingredients” by a significantly higher number of panelists (49%) compared to the control (30%). Additionally, even in the lower performing formulation, a significant positive effect on purchase intent was observed when providing either nutrition (fiber content) or sustainability (use of upcycled ingredients) information. The acceptable price range for the BSG and the commercial bar was very similar, whereas the optimal pricing point for the BSG was lower than the control. For the BSG product, sustainability information had a significantly higher impact on purchase intent than nutrition‐based information. Results highlight the importance of understanding consumer attitudes toward upcycling and the use of by-products as ingredients in new food formulations.
The link to the paper is available here.
