I am looking at a paper, which in part, discusses the impact of rice proteins on sake aroma and flavor. And admittedly, I may be stepping over the boundary between sake brewer and geek with this discussion, but I think you may find it interesting to see some of the underlining interactions that make sake what it is.
In this paper1 the authors brewed five sake variants, four of which include rice enriched with rice derived proteins. They then assessed the relative impact of these proteins on flavor and aroma.
The protein in the rice consists of roughly of 20% prolamin and 70% glutelin with several other proteins filling out the mix. The four tested in this study were prolamin, glutelin, globulin (2% each of total rice mass enhancement) and albumin (1% total rice mass enhancement). Continue reading “Rice protein impacts on Sake”
- Influence of Rice Proteins on Eating Quality of Cocked Rice and on Aroma and Flavor of Sake by Sachiko Furukawa, et al. 2006 ↵