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From Brewing By-Products to Next-Generation Food Ingredients: Processing, Functionality, Safety, and Industrial
Ionut-Dumitru Veleșcu1, Ioana Cristina Crivei1, Andreea Bianca Balint1
1Faculty of Agriculture, Department of Food Technologies, "Ion Ionescu de la Brad" Iasi University of Life Sciences, 3 Mihail Sadoveanu Alley, 700489 Iasi, Romania.
Foods (Basel, Switzerland)
|June 26, 2026
Summary
Brewing by-products like spent grain and yeast offer valuable nutrients for food ingredients. Processing, safety, and sensory qualities must be controlled for successful upcycled food applications.
Area of Science:
- Food Science
- Biotechnology
- Sustainable Food Systems
Background:
- Brewing generates significant by-products rich in proteins, fiber, and bioactive compounds.
- These by-products, including brewer's spent grain and yeast, possess nutritional and technological value for food applications.
- Current utilization of these streams as food ingredients is limited, necessitating a comprehensive review.
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate the suitability of brewing by-products for food applications.
- To link their composition, processing, techno-functional properties, safety, and sensory aspects.
- To assess their industrial readiness for upcycled food ingredient development.
Main Methods:
- A structured literature search was performed across major scientific databases (Web of Science, Scopus, PubMed, Google Scholar) for publications from 2015 to 2026.
- A critical narrative synthesis approach was employed to analyze the collected data.
- The review focused on composition, processing routes, techno-functional behavior, safety, sensory quality, and industrial readiness.
Main Results:
- Brewer's spent grain is highly suitable for bakery, snacks, and cereal products due to its availability and fiber content.
- Brewer's spent yeast is best for fraction-based applications (proteins, beta-glucans) in dairy, savory foods, and beverages.
- Spent hops and hot trub require selective recovery of valuable fractions like phenolics and proteins.
Conclusions:
- Brewing by-products can be converted into valuable upcycled food ingredients with controlled processing, safety, and sensory attributes.
- Key limitations include high moisture, short shelf-life, variability, bitterness, and regulatory uncertainty.
- Standardized protocols, quality control, sensory validation, and scale-up studies are crucial for commercial adoption.
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