Baker’s Yeast Production

An Industrial Perspective

Supervisor:
Shamima Begum
Chairman
Dept. of Microbiology
Jagannath University

Submitted By:
Tuli Dhor
ID: B 12060509
Dept. of Microbiology
Jagannath University
Table of Contents
Introduction .................................................................................................................................................. 3
Baker’s Yeast ................................................................................................................................................. 3
Scientific Name of Yeast ............................................................................................................................... 4
Scientific Classification .................................................................................................................................. 4
History ........................................................................................................................................................... 5
Types of Baker’s Yeast .................................................................................................................................. 6
Cream Yeast .............................................................................................................................................. 6
Compressed Yeast ..................................................................................................................................... 6
Granular Yeast........................................................................................................................................... 7
Cake Yeast ................................................................................................................................................. 7
Baker’s Yeast Production Principles .............................................................................................................. 8
Production Process ....................................................................................................................................... 9
Application of Baker’s Yeast ....................................................................................................................... 12
Model Organism ..................................................................................................................................... 12
Organic Synthesis .................................................................................................................................... 12
Economic Importance of Baker’s Yeast ...................................................................................................... 12
Useful activities: ...................................................................................................................................... 12
Harmful activities: ................................................................................................................................... 13
Conclusion ................................................................................................................................................... 13
Introduction
Baker’s yeast is a commercial preparation consisting of dried cells of one or more strains of
the fungus Saccharomyces cerevisiae, used as a leavening in baking. The word "yeast" comes
from the Sanskrit 'yas' meaning "to seethe or boil".
Yeast is a living microscopic organism which converts sugar or starch into alcohol and carbon
dioxide, which is why beer brewers, wine makers and bread bakers like it. Baker's yeast is what
we use most often for leavening when cooking. Baker's yeast is either active dry yeast (where
the yeast is alive but inactive due to lack of moisture) or compressed fresh yeast (where the
yeast is alive and extremely perishable as a result). Brewer's yeast is a non-leavening yeast
used in brewing beer and can be eaten as a food supplement for its healthful properties (as you
would wheat germ), unlike baker's yeast which is used for leavening. Brewer's years has a
bitter hops flavor.
Saccharomyces cerevisiae is known as top-fermenting yeast. It is one of the major types of
yeast used in the brewing of beer so called because during the fermentation process it rises to
top of the fermentation vessel. Beers that use top-fermenting yeast are called ales, and for that
reason these yeasts are also sometimes called "ale yeasts".
Top-fermenting yeasts are unable to ferment some types of sugars, and the resulting beer is
sweeter and "fruitier".

Baker’s Yeast
• Baker's yeast is the common name for the strains of yeast commonly used as a leavening
agent in baking bread and bakery products, where it converts
the fermentable sugars present in the dough into carbon dioxide and ethanol. Baker's yeast
is of the species Saccharomyces cerevisiae, which is the same species (but a
different strain) commonly used in alcoholic fermentation, which is called brewer's
yeast. Baker's yeast is also a single-cell microorganism found on and around the human
body.
Scientific Name of Yeast

Saccharo Myses

Saccharomyse
s
Sugar Fungus

Scientific Classification

Saccharomyces cerevisiae

Scientific classification

Kingdom: Fungi

Phylum: Ascomycota

Subphylum: Saccharomycotina

Order: Saccharomycetales

Family: Saccharomycetaceae

Genus: Saccharomyces

Species: Saccharomyces cerevisiae

Binomial name
 Saccharomyces cerevisiae

History
It is not known when yeast was first used to bake bread; the earliest definite records come from
Ancient Egypt. Researchers speculate that a mixture of flour meal and water was left longer than
usual on a warm day and the yeasts that occur in natural contaminants of the flour caused it to
ferment before baking. The resulting bread would have been lighter and tastier than the previous
hard flatbreads. It is generally assumed that the earliest forms of leavening were likely very similar
to modern sourdough; the leavening action of yeast would have been discovered from its action
on flatbread doughs, and would have been either cultivated separately or transferred from batch to
batch by means of previously mixed ("old") dough. Also, the development of leavened bread seems
to have developed in close proximity to the development of beer brewing, and barm from the beer
fermentation process can also be used in bread making.
Without an understanding of microbiology, early bakers would have had little ability to directly
control yeast cultures, but still kept locally interesting cultures by reusing doughs and starters to
leaven later batches. However, it became possible to isolate and propagate favored yeast strains in
the same manner as was done in the beer industry, and it eventually became practical to propagate
yeast in a slurry with a composition similar to beer wort, usually including malted barley and wheat
flour. Such cultures (sometimes referred to in old American cookery as "emptins", from their
origins as the dregs of beer or cider fermentation) would become the ancestors of modern baker's
yeast, as, in general, they were carefully maintained to avoid what would later be discovered to be
bacterial contamination, including using preservatives such as hops as well as boiling the growth
medium.
In the 19th century, bread bakers obtained their yeast from beer brewers, and this led to sweet-
fermented breads such as the Imperial "Kaiser-Semmel" roll, which in general lacked the sourness
created by the acidification typical of Lactobacillus. However, beer brewers slowly switched from
top-fermenting to bottom-fermenting yeast (both S. cerevisiae) and this created a shortage of yeast
for making bread, so the Vienna Process was developed in 1846.While the innovation is often
popularly credited for using steam in baking ovens, leading to a different crust characteristic, it is
notable for including procedures for high milling of grains, cracking them incrementally instead
of mashing them with one pass; as well as better processes for growing and harvesting top-
fermenting yeasts, known as press-yeast.
Refinements in microbiology following the work of Louis Pasteur led to more advanced methods
of culturing pure strains. In 1879, Great Britain introduced specialized growing vats for the
production of S. cerevisiae, and in the United States around the turn of the century centrifuges
were used for concentrating the yeast, making modern commercial yeast possible, and turning
yeast production into a major industrial endeavor. The slurry yeast made by small bakers and
grocery shops became cream yeast, a suspension of live yeast cells in growth medium, and then
compressed yeast, the fresh cake yeast that became the standard leaven for bread bakers in much
of the Westernized world during the early 20th century.
During World War II, Fleischmann's developed a granulated active dry yeast for the United States
armed forces, which did not require refrigeration and had a longer shelf-life and better temperature
tolerance than fresh yeast; it is still the standard yeast for US military recipes. The company created
yeast that would rise twice as fast, cutting down on baking time. Lesaffre would later create instant
yeast in the 1970s, which has gained considerable use and market share at the expense of both
fresh and dry yeast in their various applications.

Types of Baker’s Yeast

Cream Yeast
Suspension of yeast cells
Cream yeast is not termed as baker’s yeast but is a marketable product
Solid contents about 18-20

Compressed Yeast
Solid contents range between 27-33%
Most of the moisture is removed & dried by passing through fluid-bed drier.
Emulsifiers and oils are added to texturize & aid in cutting process
Shelf life of compressed yeast is about 1-2 years.
Compressed yeast can be granular or in the form of cake

Granular Yeast
○ Small granules
○ High %age of live cells
○ Can be added to driest doughs
○ Perishable
○ Small amount of ascorbic acid added as
Preservative

Cake Yeast
Also known as active dry yeast
Long shelf life
Cells encapsulated in a thick jacket of dead cells
More sensitive
 Baker’s Yeast Production
Principles
Yeasts can grow in the presence or absence of air. Anaerobic growth, growth in the absence of
oxygen, is quite slow and inefficient. For instance, in bread dough, yeast grow very little. Instead,
the sugar that can sustain either fermentation or growth is used mainly to produce alcohol and
carbon dioxide. Only a small portion of the sugar is used for cell maintenance and growth. In
contrast, under aerobic conditions, in the presence of a sufficient quantity of dissolved oxygen,
yeast grow by using most of the available sugar for growth and producing only negligible
quantities of alcohol.

This means that the baker who is interested in the leavening action of carbon dioxide works under
conditions that minimize the presence of dissolved oxygen. On the other hand, a yeast
manufacturer that wants to produce more yeast cell mass, works under aerobic conditions by
bubbling air through the solution in which the yeast is grown.

The problem posed to the yeast manufacturer, however, is not as simple as just adding air during
the fermentation process. If the concentration of sugar in the fermentation growth media is greater
than a very small amount, the yeast will produce some alcohol even if the supply of oxygen is
adequate or even in abundance. This problem can be solved by adding the sugar solution slowly
to the yeast throughout the fermentation process. The rate of addition of the sugar solution must
be such that the yeast uses the sugar fast enough so that the sugar concentration at any one time is
practically zero. This type of fermentation is referred to as a fed-batch fermentation.
Production Process
The first stage of yeast production consists of growing the yeast from the pure yeast culture in a
series of fermentation vessels. The yeast is recovered from the final fermenter by using centrifugal
action to concentrate the yeast solids. The yeast solids are subsequently filtered by a filter press or
a rotary vacuum filter to concentrate the yeast further. Next, the yeast filter cake is blended in
mixers with small amounts of water, emulsifiers, and cutting oils. After this, the mixed press cake
is extruded and cut. The yeast cakes are then either wrapped for shipment or dried to form dry
yeast.

Raw Materials

The principal raw materials used in producing baker’s yeast are the pure yeast culture and
molasses. The yeast strain used in producing compressed yeast is Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Other
yeast strains are required to produce each of the 2 dry yeast products, ADY and IDY. Cane
molasses and beet molasses are the principal carbon sources to promote yeast growth. Molasses
contains 45 to 55 weight percent fermentable sugars, in the forms of sucrose, glucose, and fructose.
The amount and type of cane and beet molasses used depend on the availability of the molasses
types, costs, and the presence of inhibitors and toxins. Usually, a blend consisting of both cane and
beet molasses is used in the fermentations. Once the molasses mixture is blended, the pH is
adjusted to between 4.5 and 5.0 because an alkaline mixture promotes bacteria growth. Bacteria
growth occurs under the same conditions as yeast growth, making pH monitoring very important.
The molasses mixture is clarified to remove any sludge and is then sterilized with high-pressure
steam. After sterilization, it is diluted with water and held in holding tanks until it is needed for
the fermentation process.
A variety of essential nutrients and vitamins is also required in yeast production. The nutrient and
mineral requirements include nitrogen, potassium, phosphate, magnesium, and calcium, with
traces of iron, zinc, copper, manganese, and molybdenum. Normally, nitrogen is supplied by
adding ammonium salts, aqueous ammonia, or anhydrous ammonia to the feedstock. Phosphates
and magnesium are added, in the form of phosphoric acid or phosphate salts and magnesium salts.
Vitamins are also required for yeast growth (biotin, inositol, pantothenic acid, and thiamine).
Thiamine is added to the feedstock. Most other vitamins and nutrients are already present in
sufficient amounts in the molasses malt.

Fermentation

Yeast cells are grown in a series of fermentation vessels. Yeast fermentation vessels are operated
under aerobic conditions (free oxygen or excess air present) because under anaerobic conditions
(limited or no oxygen) the fermentable sugars are consumed in the formation of ethanol and carbon
dioxide, which results in low yeast yields.
The initial stage of yeast growth takes place in the laboratory. A portion of the pure yeast culture
is mixed with molasses malt in a sterilized flask, and the yeast is allowed to grow for 2 to 4 days.
The entire contents of this flask are used to inoculate the first fermenter in the pure culture stage.
Pure culture fermentations are batch fermentations, where the yeast can grow for 13 to 24 hours.
Typically, 1 to 2 fermenters are used in this stage of the process. The pure culture fermentations
are basically a continuation of the flask fermentation, except that they have provisions for sterile
aeration and aseptic transfer to the next stage.
Following the pure culture fermentations, the yeast mixture is transferred to an intermediate
fermenter that is either batch or fed-batch. The next fermentation stage is a stock fermentation.
The contents from the intermediate fermenter are pumped into the stock fermenter, which is
equipped for incremental feeding with good aeration. This stage is called stock fermentation,
because after fermentation is complete, the yeast is separated from the bulk of the fermenter liquid
by centrifuging,
which produces a stock, or pitch, of yeast for the next stage. The next stage, pitch fermentation,
also produces a stock, or pitch, of yeast. Aeration is vigorous, and molasses and other nutrients are
fed incrementally. The liquor from this fermenter is usually divided into several parts for pitching
the final trade fermentations (adding the yeast to start fermentation). Alternately, the yeast may be
separated by centrifuging and stored for several days before its use in the final trade fermentations.
The final trade fermentation has the highest degree of aeration, and molasses and other nutrients
are fed incrementally. Large air supplies are required during the final trade fermentations, so these
vessels are often started in a staggered fashion to reduce the size of the air compressors. The
duration of the final fermentation stages ranges from 11 to 15 hours. After all of the required
molasses has been fed into the fermenter, the liquid is aerated for an additional 0.5 to 1.5 hours to
permit further maturing of the yeast, making it more stable for refrigerated storage.
The amount of yeast growth in the main fermentation stages described above increases with each
stage. Yeast growth is typically 120 kilograms (270 pounds) in the intermediate fermenter, 420
kilograms (930 pounds) in the stock fermenter, 2,500 kilograms (5,500 pounds) in the pitch
fermenter, and 15,000 to 100,000 kilograms (33,000 to 220,000 pounds) in the trade fermenter.
The sequence of the main fermentation stages varies among manufacturers. About half of existing
yeast operations are 2-stage processes, and the remaining are 4-stage processes. When the 2-stage
final fermentation series is used, the only fermentations following the pure culture stage are the
stock and trade fermentations. When the 4-stage fermentation series is used, the pure culture stage
is followed by intermediate, stock, pitch, and trade fermentations.

Harvesting and Packaging

Once an optimum quantity of yeast has been grown, the yeast cells are recovered from the final
trade fermenter by centrifugal yeast separators. The centrifuged yeast solids are further
concentrated by a filter press or rotary vacuum filter. A filter press forms a filter cake containing
27 to 32 percent solids. A rotary vacuum filter forms cakes containing approximately 33 percent
solids. This filter cake is then blended in mixers with small amounts of water, emulsifiers, and
cutting oils to form the end product. The final packaging steps, as described below, vary depending
on the type of yeast product.
In compressed yeast production (SCC 3-02-035-XX), emulsifiers are added to give the yeast a
white, creamy appearance and to inhibit water spotting of the yeast cakes. A small amount of oil,
usually soybean or cottonseed oil, is added to help extrude the yeast through nozzles to form
continuous ribbons of yeast cake. The ribbons are cut, and the yeast cakes are wrapped and cooled
to below 8°C (46°F), at which time they are ready for shipment in refrigerated trucks.
In dry yeast production (SCC 3-02-034-XX), the product is sent to an extruder after filtration,
where emulsifiers and oils (different from those used for compressed yeast) are added to texturize
the yeast and to aid in extruding it. After the yeast is extruded in thin ribbons, it is cut and dried in
either a batch or a continuous drying system. Following drying, the yeast is vacuum packed or
packed under nitrogen gas before heat sealing. The shelf life of ADY and IDY at ambient
temperature is 1 to 2 years.

Application of Baker’s Yeast

Model Organism
Because it is readily available and easy to culture, baker's yeast has long been used in chemical,
biological, and genetic research as a model organism. In 1996, after 6 years of work, S. cerevisiae
became the first eukaryote to have its entire genome sequenced. It has over 12 million base pairs
and around 6000 genes. Since then, it has remained in the forefront of genetic research. For
example, most of our knowledge of the cell division cycle was worked out from experiments with
yeast.

Organic Synthesis
Reduction of a carbonyl to a hydroxyl with baker's yeast.
Baker's yeast contains enzymes that can reduce a carbonyl group into a hydroxyl group in fairly
high yield, thus making it useful for biotransformation’s in organic syntheses. It is known to reduce
organometallic carbonyl compounds in very high yield.
Baker's yeast can also be used to produce ethanol via fermentation for use in chemical synthesis,
although doing so in some places requires permits.

Economic Importance of Baker’s Yeast

Useful activities:
1. Baking industry’:

In bread preparation. S. cerevisiae is added to the needed flour. Fermentation activity of yeast
produces alcohol of CO2. The CO2 evaporate and makes the bread spongy.

2. Brewing industry:
S. cerevisiae (brewer’s yeast) and S. ellipsoids (wine yeast) perform alcoholic fermentation in a
large fermenter or bioreactor. This forms a variety of alcoholic beverages like beer, wine, brandy,
cider, Champagne etc. All of them differ in ethanol percentage. Ethanol used as solvent, liquid fuel
(gasohol) and antifreeze.

3. Yeast cake:

In brewing industry, excess yeasts are harvested and pressed into yeast cakes or tablets which are
a rich source of proteins and vitamins (B1, B2 and C).

Harmful activities:
1.Spoilage of food:

Due to saprotrophic nature yeast spoil a number of food stuffs like cheese, tomato products,
carbonated beverages, food with lactic acid etc.

2.Plant diseases:

Nematodes attack beans, tomato and cotton and reduce their yield.

3.Human diseases:

Some species of yeasts are responsible for serious diseases like cryotococcosis (a mental disorder),
blastomycosis, torulosis, histoplasmosis, candidiasis etc.

Conclusion
The baker’s yeast industry is a major market, grossing several billion euros per year. The low
value, high volume product is produced under stringent environmental conditions to obtain the
maximum product/biomass yield which is dependent on process design, cost and the strain of S.
cerevisiae used. The fermentation and scale-up stage is the critical to the process as it dictates the
volume and quality of the product. The industry is expanding after a recent slump and with the
potential for large profits it can be expected to continue. As with all biotechnology processes,
research and development in this area is continuously ongoing to create more
advantageous/beneficial strains of the S. cerevisiae fungi and optimize the fermentation and
processing steps which make up the baker’s yeast process.