Proteomics as a tool to understand the complexity of beer

Recently “Omics” technologies such as genomics, proteomics, metabolomics and lipidomics have become widely popular as complementary technologies for conventional analytical methodologies, providing comprehensive and reliable results in a high throughput manner. Improvements and advances in technology have seen their application in the study of food science and nutrition in the field of “foodomics”. This relatively new discipline includes studies of food quality and safety, detection of food contamination and the presence of food allergens, compound profiling, authenticity and much more. Here, we discuss state-of-the-art proteomics techniques and their potential application within the food and beverage industry with a particular focus on beer analysis. Particular advantages of proteomics applications are the discovery of protein biomarkers, which can be used to validate the quality of raw ingredients and final products and monitor the type and amount of important proteinaceous components. An additional benefit of these techniques is their ability to provide insight into the effects of abiotic stress upon ingredient biochemistry during the brewing process. For example, protein structural changes and post-translational modification can modulate the flavour, texture and appearance of beer. A greater perception of these changes can be appreciated using a proteomics approach and this accumulated knowledge will help maltsters and brewers, in association with breeders, create better and safer products for consumers. Aside from routine identification and quantification workflows, it can also lead to the discovery and characterisation of novel proteins. Therefore, the application of proteomic techniques including both gel-based and mass spectrometric analyses is discussed in this paper, along with a recently published novel approach for the relative quantification of hordein in beer using mass spectrometry.