Improving the nutritional value of beer

Beer is an alcoholic beverage with an alcohol content ranging from 3.5 to 10%. Its protein, lipid and carbohydrate content is very low, but it contains polyphenols, folic acid and vitamin B12, which can have a positive impact on our health. In particular, beer can reduce the risk of developing cardiovascular diseases through the following actions: 1) it protects the vascular endothelium from oxidative damage; 2) it improves the elasticity of blood vessels; 3) it causes a decrease in blood levels of homocysteine, a molecule which increases the risk of stroke. An increase in the concentration of such protective molecules in beer can be obtained by adding fruit, medicinal herbs, and by using other cereals in addition to barley. The folic acid in beer mainly derives from the metabolic activity of Saccharomyces cerevisiae and this bio-synthetic ability can be improved by selecting the strains which are most capable of synthesizing the vitamin. Vitamin B12 is poorly produced by yeast and in the presence of low genetic variability the most effective way to obtain B12-producing S. cerevisiae strains is to use mutagenesis, or genetic engineering. However, current European regulations prohibit alcoholic beverages from using health claims.