Chemical characterization of the two major hop varieties produced in Patagonia (Argentina) for the brewing industry

ANDREA TROCHINE; SILVIA BEATRIZ GONZÁLEZ; JULIETA BURINI; LUCIANA CAVALLINI; BRUNO GASTALDI; GABRIELA REINER; FRESIA MELINA SILVA SOFRÁS; CATALINA MARIA VAN BAREN; PAOLA DI LEO LIRA; DAIANA RETTA; ARNALDO LUIS BANDONI; DIEGO LIBKIND

BrewingScience

Fachverlag Hans Carl

Año: 2020 vol. 73 p. 95 - 102

1866-5195

The yields and chemical compositions of the resinous and essential oil fractions vary in different hop(Humulus lupulus L.) varieties and in different environmental conditions. South American hop crops with mostof the production located in North Patagonia (Argentina), have not been thoroughly described. The two mainvarieties grown in this location are Cascade, widely used for aroma purposes and Nugget, a high alpha variety.To characterize the Patagonian hop products, the essential oils and resinous components of dried hop conesand pellets were analyzed. Both cones and pellets showed low HSI values indicating ?freshness? of thesamples. Argentinian Cascade alpha-acid levels and the ratio of alpha to beta acids (α/β), were above or in theupper range of Cascade typical values. For Patagonian Nugget, α- and β-acid values, as well as the α/β ratio,were within the range reported for other producing regions. As expected, essential oil yields were higher forthe Nugget variety compared to Cascade (1.9 % and 1.0 % respectively); with both varieties high in myrcene(> 50 %). The α-humulene to β-caryophyllene (H/C) ratio values were typical for these varieties as well as theamounts of the main essential oil components, including a high proportion of (E)-β-farnesene in Cascade.Geraniol, nevertheless, was found in low amounts in Cascade; though two of its esters were present. Thiswork indicates that hop varieties Cascade and Nugget appear well adapted to Patagonian growing andproduction conditions, producing high quality hop products. Future experiments to unveil the impact of theobserved differences are of interest; including sensory analysis of beers hopped with the Patagonian terroirvarieties compared with those from high producing regions.