Characterization of Lipids and Lignans in Brewer’s Spent Grain and Its Enzymatically Extracted Fraction

Brewer’s spent grain (BSG), the major side stream of brewing, consists of the husks and the residual parts of malts after the mashing process. BSG was enzymatically fractionated by a two-step treatment with carbohydrate- and protein-degrading enzymes, which solubilized 66% of BSG. BSG contained 11% lipids, which were mostly triglycerides, but also a notable amount of free fatty acids was present. Lipids were mostly solubilized due to the alkaline pH applied in the protease treatment. The main fatty acids were linoleic, palmitic, and oleic acids. Several lignans were identified in BSG, syringaresinol and secoisolariciresinol being the most abundant, many associated with the cell wall matrix and released by the alkaline-protease treatment.