Nutrition/Health Session
Pavel Dostalek, Department of Fermentation Chemistry and Bioengineering, Institute of Chemical Technology Prague, Prague 6, Czech Republic
Co-author(s): Rudolf Cejnar, Department of Fermentation Chemistry and
Bioengineering, Institute of Chemical Technology, Prague, Czech
Republic; Oto Mestek, Department of Analytical Chemistry, Institute of
Chemical Technology, Prague, Czech Republic
ABSTRACT: Silicon is an important essential trace element.
The recommended daily intake is about 10–25 mg/L. Silicon deficiency is
mostly associated with losses of connective tissue components, such as
glycosaminoglycanes, collagen, and elastin. The most readily absorbable
form of silicon is orthosilicic acid. Foods derived from plants rather
than animals provide the highest sources of dietary silicon, because
certain plants, especially cereals, are silicon accumulators. In
particular, high levels of bioavailable silicon are found in beer, which
is made from barley malt, from which orthosilicic acid is released into
the beer. Inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) was
used for determination of silicon in lager beers from the Czech market
and in brewing semiproducts. The goal was to establish silicon
concentrations in Czech lager beers and to find out which individual
processes are the most significant in terms of silicon concentration in
beer. Silicon concentration in Czech lager beers ranged from 16.3 to
113.0 mg/L, and it was shown that the concentration depends primarily on
two factors. First, the silicon content of beer rises with the original
wort concentration, and second, during decoction mashing silicon is
leached much more than in the case of infusion mashing.
Pavel
Dostálek was born in 1963. He studied as a graduate engineer at the
Faculty of Food and Biochemical Technology of the Institute of Chemical
Technology Prague, Czech Republic (1985). He holds a Ph.D. degree in
fermentation chemistry and technology from the same institute (1991). In
1987 he was an assistant scientist in food technology. In 1990 he
became an assistant professor for brewing science, and in 1993 he stayed
at the Dublin City University. In 1996 he finished post-graduate
courses on food technology at Hebrew University, Agricultural Faculty,
Rehovot, Israel, and in 1997 became a lecturer in the Department of
Fermentation Chemistry and Bioengineering, Institute of Chemical
Technology Prague. He has been an associate professor in biotechnology
since 2007.
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