Cucumber pulp (Cucumis sativus) as a brewing adjunct: effects on physicochemical composition and volatile profile

The growth of the craft beer market reflects the demand for innovative products with differentiated chemical characteristics. Styles such as American Wheat favor the incorporation of unconventional adjuncts, such as cucumber, a widely available, low-cost fruit with technological potential. Its use represents a differential in production, promoting the modulation of the physicochemical composition and aromatic profile of the beverage through interactions with the fermentative metabolism, in addition to increasing the commercial value and the potential for innovation in the sector. This study aimed to evaluate the influence of the addition of cucumber pulp as a brewing adjunct on the physicochemical composition and volatile profile of the beverage. Control beers (C) and beers with 5% cucumber pulp (CP) were submitted to the analysis of total soluble solids (TSS), total sugars (TA) and reducers (RA), pH, acidity, alcohol content and volatile compounds. The volatiles were extracted by HS-SPME, using PDMS/CAR/DVB fiber (40 °C; 10 min equilibrium; 50 min extraction) and analyzed by GC-MS. The addition of cucumber reduced the content of TSS (3.5 °Brix), total sugars (7.51 g/L) and reducers (2.93 g/L) compared to the control sample (4.08 °Brix; 9.22 g/L; 3.71 g/L, respectively), suggesting greater stimulus to the consumption of easily assimilated sugars. Despite this, the alcohol content of CP was lower (4.5 °GL) than that of the control sample (5.5 °GL), indicating a possible redirection of carbon to secondary fermentative pathways, such as glycerol production