Malts have been prepared in which the moisture requirements of the grain before germination are provided by spraying and not steeping. In such grain, initiation of germination proceeds normally and rapidly but subsequent modification as judged by softening of the endosperm and the formation of enzymes is slower, by about 2 days, than in similar grain which has been steeped normally although total processing time for the two is very similar. Spraying to a final moisture content of at least 46% yields higher hot water extracts than spraying to a conventional moisture content of about 44%. The use of 0·5 p.p.m. gibberellic acid solution increases hot water extracts by about 1 lb. per qr. and reduces the period required for modification by 1 day. It does not appear economical, at present, to prepare malts with minimum effluent on the commercial scale in which all the moisture requirements are provided by spraying alone.
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Reynolds et al. (1966) studied this question.