Step 1: Grasp the cereal germination process. During sprouting, the seed uses stored energy for new plant growth. Cereals mainly store energy as starch in the endosperm.
Step 2: Determine the starch-degrading enzymes. Amylase enzymes break down starch into simple sugars like maltose. In germinating cereals, \(\alpha\)-amylase and \(\beta\)-amylase activity significantly increases. \(\beta\)-amylase is key for maltose production and is crucial for malting, a controlled germination used in brewing and distilling. Although protease and lipase activity also rise to degrade proteins and lipids, amylase activity increases the most. Therefore, \(\beta\)-amylase is the most accurate answer.