DETERMINATION OF ESTROGENICALLY ACTIVE CO MPOUNDS IN BEER AND IN ITS RAW-MATERIALS

The presence, origin and quantity of compounds in beer which might be active as estrogens was investigated by a receptor assay in 19 differe nt beers as well as in 5 malt, 5 hop and 7 wort preparations. Within t he test system used, the identification of estrogenically active compo unds is not based on structure-specific features of the respective sub stances, but is rather achieved by a recording of their biological act ion, i.e. by their potency to bind to the estrogen receptor. Those com pounds which can bind to the estrogen receptor either as agonists or a s antagonists, are capable to induce either estrogenic or antiestrogen ic effects in vivo. All samples were extracted according to two differ ent protocols in order to record both lipophilic as well as amphiphili c compounds. The concentration of estrogenically active compounds is g iven as estradiol-17 beta equivalents; in malt the concentrations afte r lipophilic extraction were always below the limit of detection (0.8 ng/g); in hop concentrations between 1.5 and 4.8 ng/g were recorded. I n wort the levels ranged between 3.3 and 4.7 ng/ml. With the lipophili c extraction protocol, in 6 out of the 19 beer samples examined the co ncentration was below the limit of detection (0.08 ng/ml); in the rema ining 13 samples concentrations of 0.1 to 2.0 ng/ml were measured. Aft er amphiphilic extraction again no estrogenic activity was detectable in malt. In hop and in wort the concentrations were between 0 to 5.1 n g/g and 0.4 to 0.7 ng/g, respective ly. With the amphiphilic extractio n, no estrogenic activity was detectable in 11 of the 19 beer samples; in the other samples the levels ranged between 0.1 and 0.3 ng/ml. To be able to judge the relevance of the concentrations determined in the present study with regard to consumer's safety, the orally effective daily dosage in humans of about 2 mg estradiol-17 beta has to be consi dered: to achieve a comparable intake from beer consumption, approxima tely 1000 1 of beer per day would be necessary. In conclusion, the dat a presented herein demonstrate that estrogenically active compunds in beer and in its raw materials are indeed analytically detectable; howe ver, the concentrations are far below the range in which a hormonal ef fect in the consumer can be expected. Provided that the components of beer are not further metabolized to estrogenically active forms by the consumer's organism, there is no worry that beer consumption might re sult in estrogenic effects.