RESUMO
Hop cultivation has been increasing in the past decade in Brazil, demanding a better understanding of how the processing influences the national hop varieties. Despite the hop process being well-established in the producer countries, there is still room for optimization to reduce energy consumption for a more sustainable process. This study's main purpose was to understand the influence of drying and supercritical CO2 extraction on the quality of hop extracts. The hop quality during drying was evaluated regarding color, bitter acids, xanthohumol, total essential oil content, and volatile profile. Supercritical CO2 extraction yields, and bitter acid recovery were assessed by HPLC in a range of different temperatures (40 or 60 °C) and pressure (15, 20, 25, or 30 MPa) conditions. Hop processing was optimized to produce a greater extract quality from a Brazilian hop variety, saving energy and solvent consumption, and consequently, reducing the process footprint. Furthermore, this study established supercritical CO2 extraction conditions for Brazilian hop extract production, offering the national beer industry an alternative to overpriced products.