Diastatic malt: What is it good for?

BESTMALZ recently started offering BEST Diastatic malts. But what exactly is a diastatic malt and what is it used for?

First of all, the term “diastase” refers to a group of enzymes that break starch down into sugar, the so-called amylases. These can be found in the grain and are activated and multiplied during malting. The diastatic power indicates how much starch is broken down by the amylases in a given period of time.

Light malts usually have a diastatic power of around 300 WK (degrees Windisch-Kolbach). Diastatic malts from BESTMALZ are at least 520 WK. This difference is particularly noticeable when processing raw fruit.

Due to a special softening and germination process as well as gentle drying, diastatic malt has a much higher enzyme potential than other malts. The high amylase activity is ideal for releasing and breaking down starch, which means that yeasts are supplied with fermentable sugars more quickly. For this reason, this malt is mainly used in the baking and food industries, but also in distilleries.

BESTMALZ offers both diastatic barley malt and diastatic wheat malt.

BEST Diastatic Barley Malt primarily improves the quality of bread in a natural way. Non-fermentable sugars cause a nice browning of the bread crust.

This also applies to BEST Diastatic Wheat Malt which, due to its excellent properties, it is very well suited for a wide variety of baked products including unique wheat snack specialties.

Diastatic barley malt:

Diastatic wheat malt: