AACC 1998 Annual Meeting Poster #  190

A new health beer fortified by bamboo-leaf-abstract. Y. ZHANG(1), L.F. Hu(2). (1)Zhejiang Agricultural University, Dept. of Food Sci. & Tech., Hangzhou 310029, P.R. China; (2)Anji Development Company of Bamboo & Wood Products, Anji, Zhejiang 313302, P.R. China

Beer is a kind of low-alcoholic drink mainly made from barley. With the improvement of living standards and health care in China, there is impetus towards research of new beers fortified with naturally occurring ingredients with specific health concerns. Bamboo is traditionally used in food and medicine in Southeast Asia. Our latest research showed that there are many different flavone glycosides in bamboo leaves, which have excellent physiological activities as anti-free radical, anti-oxidation and anti-aging agents. In this study, green-dry leaves from Phyllostachy genus bamboo were picked in autumn and extracted. After boiling the bamboo leaves in water, the extract was concentrated in vacuum, and the impurities removed using the ethanol precipitation method, to give a fine bamboo leaf juice. The bamboo beer was prepared by adding the juice to original beer, then mixed, filtered and bottled. The amount of the juice added, taking its total flavonoids (TF) amount as index, was between 10 to 50 mg per liter beer, depending on requirements. In addition to the general characteristics of beer, bamboo beer showed multiple health benefits, such as lowering blood lipids and preventing heart diseases. Furthermore, bamboo beer presents a typical delicate fragrance of bamboo to match the beer flavor. This health beer is available in Chinese market.