LOSSES DURING MALTING 263 



the combustion of a certain amount of starch into carbonic acid 

 and water, which escape into the air. During the kilning and 

 drying process there is a further loss of dry matter, this time 

 mainly a mechanical loss due to malt dust, which falls through 

 the wire floor into the fire. 



The further figures show that of the nitrogenous materials 

 there is a little loss by solution in the steep-water, but little or 

 none upon the floor, where there will be no production of 

 free nitrogen as long as the germination process is proceeding 

 properly. The chief loss of nitrogenous material is mechanical, 

 in the drying and screening process. Similarly with the 

 mineral matter : after the first loss in the steep no others are 

 possible save those of a mechanical nature. It should be 

 noticed, however, how much of the nitrogen and mineral matter 

 passes into the malt dust ; the young shoots of the barley plant 

 are comparatively far richer in nitrogen and mineral matter 

 than the whole grain. The other changes, which take place 

 during malting and are not shown in this table, would be the 

 incipient conversion of some of the starch into malt sugar (it is 

 well known that malt possesses a comparatively sweet taste) and 

 the migration of a large portion of the albuminoids of the grain 

 into soluble nitrogenous compounds, chiefly amides and amino 

 acids, the nutritive value of which is certainly less than that 

 of the albuminoids from which they were derived. The malt 

 also contains large amounts of diastase, the enzyme which 

 converts starch into sugar during " mashing," the next brewing 

 process. 



The figures thus obtained for the changes during the 

 malting process agree with those generally accepted by 

 maltsters to-day, who expect to lose 10-11 per cent, of material 

 (dry weight), distributed as follows : 



Loss in steep ... 1 per cent. 

 Loss by respiration . . 4-5 

 Malt dust . . . . 4 

 Waste ....! 

 The waste has been diminished by the employment of tiled 



