SINGLE-CELL PROTEIN/Yeasts and Bacteria 5277
Yeasts and Bacteria as an alternative to alleviating food shortages due
M Garcı́a-Garibay, L Gómez-Ruiz and
A E Cruz-Guerrero, Universidad Autónoma
Metropolitana, Mexico City, Apartado, Mexico
E Bárzana, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de
México, Mexico City, Mexico
Copyright 2003, Elsevier Science Ltd. All Rights Reserved.
Introduction
0001 The single-cell protein (SCP) concept is applied to the
massive growth of microorganisms for human or
animal consumption. Single-cell protein is a generic
term for crude or refined protein whose origin is
bacteria, yeasts, molds, or algae, microorganisms
that usually contain above 40% of crude protein on
dry weight bases. Yeasts and bacteria have been
particularly important for SCP production and easily
acceptable as their biomass has been consumed by
man since ancient times in the form of fermented
foods. The production of SCP has important advan-
tages over other sources of proteins, such as its
considerably shorter doubling time, the small land
requirement, and the fact that it is not affected by
the weather conditions. Much attention was focused
on the use of petroleum derivatives as substrates for
the SCP production during the 1960s and 1970s when
the price of this reserve was low, but currently, the
production of SCP is based on renewable resources,
and its interest is also kept as a means to confer value
to waste materials. The organoleptic and functional
properties of SCP are not always competitive, and its
main drawback has been its high production costs.
However, recent advances in fermentation technol-
ogy and genetic engineering could reevaluate SCP
production.
Historical Developments and
Implementation of SCP Production
0002 The first developments in SCP production were
achieved during war times when conventional foods
were in short supply. During World War I, Saccharo-
myces cerevisiae was massively produced in Germany
from molasses to replace up to 60% of protein
imported. Similar measures were taken during World
War II for the mass production of Candida utilis
(known formerly as Torula yeast, or Torulopsis utilis)
on sulfite liquor from paper manufacturing wastes.
After the war, several plants were built in the USA and
Europe, mainly for C. utilis production.
0003 Accelerated industrial development and general
welfare expectancy led to a renewed interest in SCP
to a growing imbalance between food production
and demand by the world’s population, mainly in
developing countries. During the 1960s and 1970s,
several SCP production plants were built in the
UK, France, Italy, Russia, Japan, Taiwan, etc.
An important breakthrough occurred when the 0004
production of SCP from hydrocarbons was demon-
strated by several petroleum companies during the
1950s and 1960s. During the 1970s, considerable
research efforts resulted in the use of methanol and
ethanol, derived from petroleum, as convenient sub-
strates. In the early 1970s, the cost of n-paraffin was
approximately US$80 per tonne, whereas crude
molasses had an approximate cost of US$82 per
tonne. However, concern about substrate safety and
the increase in petroleum prices shifted interest back
to the utilization of renewal sources, mainly food and
agriculture byproducts like molasses and whey, or
industrial wastes rich in starch, cellulose, and hemi-
cellulose. The major SCP projects based on petroleum
derivatives as substrates were abandoned in the
1980s.
In recent times, among the European Communist 0005
countries, Russia has had the greatest capacity for
SCP production, with at least 86 plants in operation,
using different substrates. Several other countries in
Eastern Europe, like the former Czechoslovakia, had
similar capacities. The Russian delegation reported
the production of 1 million tonnes of SCP per year
in 1983 at an international symposium on SCP, and
estimated that they would be producing 9 million
tonnes by the end of the 1990s.
To date, an enormous number of reports about SCP 0006
production have appeared in the scientific literature.
Two main approaches have been followed: the util-
ization of convenient substrates and the use of waste
materials where SCP production brings about pollu-
tion control.
Many industrial process have been developed 0007
world-wide; the most important are shown in Tables
1 and 2. The countries with important industrial
outputs are the USA, UK, France, Russia, and
Cuba.
Suitable Organisms and Substrates
The most frequently used yeasts are as follows: 0008
Saccharomyces cerevisiae (and related synonymous
species such as S. carlsbergensis, S. uvarum, etc.),
Kluyveromyces marxianus (including synonymous
subspecies and asexual forms such as K. fragilis,
K. lactis, K. bulgaricus, Candida kefyr and C.
pseudotropicalis), C. utilis (and its sexual form
Hansenula jadinii) and Yarrowia lipolytica (formerly
 5278 SINGLE-CELL PROTEIN/Yeasts and Bacteria

tbl0001 Table 1 Main yeast SCP industrial and pilot developments Table 2 Main bacterial SCP industrial and pilot developments tbl0002

Substrate/yeast Process/product Country Substrate/bacteria Process/product Country

Sulfite liquor Methane

Candida utilis St. Regis Paper USA Methylococcus capsulatus Shell Oil UK
Candida utilis Boise Cascade USA Methanol
Candida utilis State industry Russia Methylophilus methylotrophus ICI/Pruteen UK
Candida utilis Attisholz Switzerland Methylomonas clara Hoechst–Uhde/ Germany
Hydrocarbons Probion
Yarrowia lipolytica British Petroleum/ UK Ethanol
Toprina Acinetobacter calcoaceticus Exxon–Nestle Switzerland
Candida tropicalis British Petroleum/ France Cellulose
Toprina Cellulomonas sp. and Louisiana State USA
Candida tropicalis Italprotein Italy Alcaligenes sp. University
Yarrowia lipolytica Liquichimica/ Italy Whey
Liquipron Lactobacillus bulgaricus and Kiel Germany
Yarrowia lipolytica State industry Russia Candida krusei
Yarrowia lipolytica Swedt Germany
Yarrowia lipolytica Roniprot Romania
Ethanol
Candida utilis Amoco/Torutein USA
Candida sp. Mitsubishi Japan
Methanol
Pichia sp. Mitsubishi Japan
Pichia pastoris Philipps Petroleum/ USA
Provesteen
Starch
Saccharomycopsis fibuligera Symba Sweden
and Candida utilis
Saccharomyces cerevisiae Brewers Several
Molasses
Candida utilis Several industrial Cuba
processes
Candida utilis Several industrial Taiwan
processes
Candida utilis CINVESTAV IPN Mexico
Liquid sucrose
4 ku 11,000 1µm 08 20 SEI
Hansenula jadinii Philipps Petroleum/ USA
Provesta
Whey
Figure 1 Saccharomyces cerevisiae observed under a scanning fig0001
Kluyveromyces marxianus Wheast–Knudsen USA
electron microscope.
Kluyveromyces marxianus Amber Lab– USA
Universal Foods
K. marxianus, K. lactis, and Fromageries Bel France
Candida pintolopesii
Kluyveromyces marxianus S.A.V. France
used, due to their capacity to assimilate lactose, the
Candida intermedia Vienna Austria
Candida utilis Waldhof USA carbohydrate present in cheese whey, but it can also
Confectionery effluent grow on inulin, a fructose polymer found in some
Candida utilis Bassett UK plants, and other simple sugars such as glucose,
fructose, and sucrose; therefore, sometimes, it is also
grown in molasses. Since it is able to grow at tem-
peratures as high as 45
C, it has been used to produce
known as Candida lipolytica and Saccharomycopsis biomass in tropical areas. Figure 2 shows an electron
lipolytica). micrograph of cells of K. marxianus. C. utilis is used
0009 Some yeasts have been widely used in the manufac- for a wide variety of substrates such as sucrose, etha-
ture of human foods: S. cerevisiae, K. marxianus, and nol, and sulfite-spent liquor. It can also grow on wood
C. utilis have the generally recognized as safe (GRAS) hydrolysates because of its ability to assimilate
status for human consumption by the Food and Drugs pentoses. Starchy solids or water streams from potato
Administration in the USA. S. cerevisiae is also avail- and maize industries require previous hydrolysis for
able as spent yeast from breweries and alcohol indus- yeast growth, as in the case of C. utilis, or as in the
tries; Figure 1 shows an electron micrograph of this Symba process, which utilizes amylolytic yeast (Sac-
species. K. marxianus and related species are widely charomycopsis fibuligera). Yeasts able to assimilate

5 ku 3000 2µ 0620 SEI
fig0002 Figure 2 Kluyveromyces marxianus observed under a scanning
electron microscope.
hydrocarbons include Y. lipolytica, C. tropicalis,
C. rugosa, and C. guilliermondii, which usually can
also grow on lipids. Methanol is the preferred alcohol
for use as a substrate by Pichia species (P. pastoris,
P. methanolica, etc.), Hansenula polymorpha, Hanse-
nula capsulata, and Candida boidinii. The most im-
portant processes developed for yeast SCP production
are shown in Table 1.
0010 Bacteria have been used mostly for the production
of animal feed. The most commercially important
species utilize methane and/or methanol as substrates,
as shown in Table 2. Methanol is usually preferred
over methane because it is water-soluble and less
explosive. The Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and
Food in the UK allows the use of ICI’s (Imperial
Chemical Industries) product ‘Pruteen’ in animal
feed. For the production of bacterial SCP from
ethanol, either Acinetobacter calcoaceticus or Alcali-
genes sp. have been used in laboratory or pilot-
plant studies.
0011 Other petroleum derivatives such as paraffins have
been considered only to a minor degree for the pro-
duction of SCP using bacteria; some studies have been
carried out with Acinetobacter calcoaceticus.
0012 To produce bacterial SCP from whey, several lactic
acid and propionic bacteria have been investigated,
frequently in mixed cultures with yeasts as in the
Kiel process. In this case, Lactobacillus delbrueckii
ssp. bulgaricus grows using the lactose, converting
it to lactic acid; then, Candida krusei, which is unable
to ferment lactose, uses the lactic acid as a carbon
source. Both fermentations can be performed simul-
taneously, controlling the pH by adding ammonia,
which is used as a nitrogen source by the yeast.
0013 Lactic acid bacteria proposed for the fermentation
of whey include species such as Lactobacillus del-
brueckii subsp. delbrueckii, L. delbrueckii subsp. bul-
garicus, Lactobacillus casei ssp. casei, Leuconostoc
SINGLE-CELL PROTEIN/Yeasts and Bacteria 5279
sp., etc. Fermentation of this substrate with rumen
bacteria has also been proposed to produce biomass
concentrated by ultrafiltration for use as feed.
Propionibacteria, such as Propionibacterium 0014
freudenreichii ssp. shermanii and P. freudenreichii
ssp. freudenreichii, produce significant amounts of
vitamin B12, giving additional attractiveness to their
utilization in the production of SCP. A process using a
mixture of P. freudenreichii ssp. freudenreichii and
K. marxianus has been proposed for the production
of SCP from whey rich in vitamin B12 and sulfur
amino acids.
Bacteria have been explored very little with regard 0015
to producing SCP from substrates such as starch and
cellulose. A case in point is the project developed by
Louisiana State University in USA to produce SCP
from Cellulomonas sp. and Alcaligenes sp. from cane
bagasse; this process was scaled up to pilot-plant
level.
Generally, yeasts have been preferred for SCP 0016
production over bacteria, especially for human
consumption. It seems that yeasts are more accept-
able because they are more familiar to humans
through ageless foods like bread or beer. However,
bacteria have some advantages over yeasts such as a
higher protein content (Table 3), higher yields
(carbon source to protein conversion), and a faster
growth rate, though a higher nucleic acid content
(Table 4) limits their uptake in the diet. (See Lactic
Acid Bacteria; Yeasts.)
Production Processes
Since the SCP must have a competitive price in the 0017
protein market, especially proteins of vegetable
origin, it is essential to guarantee efficiency along all
stages of the process. The carbon source accounts for
up to about 60% of the operation costs, so high yields
of substrate conversion are required, high productiv-
ity processes must be implemented, and the utiliza-
tion of an inexpensive but easily assimilated carbon
source has to be guaranteed. This explains the gener-
alized use of molasses, whey, or industrial residues,
depending on local availability, and the attempts to
implement fossil fuels as substrates. An important
advantage in using hydrocarbons is the yield,
obtaining 1 g of dry biomass per gram of hydrocar-
bon, compared with carbohydrates, which typically
yield around 0.5 g of dry biomass per gram of
substrate.
The typical process stages for the production of 0018
SCP comprise: raw material preparation, fermenta-
tion, biomass recovery, cell disruption, and drying.
Figure 3 shows a typical process for the production
of yeast SCP.
 5280 SINGLE-CELL PROTEIN/Yeasts and Bacteria

tbl0003 Table 3 Nutritional parameters of SCP products

Kluyveromyces Saccharomyces Candida utilis Methylophilus Methylomonas clara Soya meal

marxianus cerevisiae methylotrophus

Protein (grams per 100 g dry weight)

Crude (N  6.25) 43–58 48 42–57 72–88 80–85 44–50
True protein 40–42 36 47 64 69–73 48
Essential amino acids (grams per 16 g of N)
Isoleucine 4.0–5.1 4.6–5.5 4.3–5.3 5.2–5.4 3.6 5.4
Leucine 7.0–8.1 7.0–8.1 7.0 8.2–8.4 6.6 7.7
Phenylalanine 3.4–5.1 4.1–4.5 3.7–4.3 4.3–6.5 5.1 5.1
Tyrosine 2.5–4.6 4.9 3.3 3.5–3.8 5.1 2.7
Threonine 4.1–5.8 4.8–5.2 4.7–5.5 5.7–6.5 4.8 4.0
Tryptophan 0.9–1.7 1.0–1.2 1.2 1.1–1.6 1.5 1.5
Valine 5.4–5.9 5.3–6.7 5.3–6.3 6.3–6.5 4.8 5.0
Arginine 4.8–7.4 5.0–5.3 5.4–7.2 4.3–5.6 3.4 7.7
Histidine 1.9–4.0 3.1–4.0 1.9–2.1 2.2–2.3 2.8 2.4
Lysine 6.9–11.1 7.7–8.4 6.7–7.2 4.1–7.3 6.2 6.5
Cystine 1.7–1.9 1.6 0.6–0.7 0.8 1.4
Methionine 1.3–1.6 1.6–2.5 1.0–1.2 1.4–3.0 2.5 1.4
PER 1.8 2.0 1.7 1.4–2.2
NPU 67 84 64
Vitamins (mg per g)
Thiamin 24–26 104–250 8–9.5 5 9.0
Riboflavin 36–51 25–80 44–45 40 3.6
Pyridoxine 14 23–40 79–83 2 6.8
Nicotinic acid 136–280 300–627 450–550 57 24.0
Folic acid 6 19–30 4–21 15 4.1
Pantothenic acid 67 72–86 94–189 11 21.0
Biotin 2 1 0.4–0.8 3
Vitamin B12 0.015–0.05 0.0001 0

PER, protein efficiency ratio; NPU, net protein utilization.

tbl0004 Table 4 Nucleic acid contents of SCP products (g per 100 g of oxygen promotes aerobic metabolism and higher
biomass in dry weight basis) growth rates. However, due to the low solubility
Kluyveromyces marxianus 2.7–10 of oxygen in aqueous media, the cost of aeration,
Saccharomyces cerevisiae 2.5–15 through air sparging and agitation, increases rapidly
Candida utilis 6.2–10 with the scale of operation, resulting in an important
Methylophilus methylotrophus 16 technical challenge. Assimilation of n-paraffins
Methylomonas clara 10–15
requires considerably high levels of oxygenation,
Isolated protein from K. marxianus 1.4–5.7
and the growth of microorganisms on these water-
insoluble substrates takes place on the hydrocarbon–
water interface. The surface area becomes the limiting
factor, and heat production is about twice that using
0019 To maximize carbon assimilation, the nutrients sugars as substrates.
must be balanced. Sources of nitrogen, minor In general, when yeast biomass is produced, 0021

elements (P, K, S, Mg, etc.), trace elements, and vita-
mins are adjusted according to the general compos-
ition of the carbon source. This in turn is highly
dependent on the strain used. In general, simple ni-
trogen sources such as urea, ammonia, and nitrate are
used to keep costs down. Phosphate is supplied as
phosphoric acid or as soluble phosphate salts.
0020 Fermentation variables like temperature, pH, ionic
strength, level of oxygenation, and, in the continuous
fermentations, dilution rate, have a strong influence
on cellular yield. In particular, an abundant supply of
alcohol accumulates due to oxygen limitation. Some
alternatives proposed for SCP from whey are the
production of alcohol as a byproduct from fermenta-
tion or the use of Kluyveromyces in a mixed culture
with Candida pintolopesii, where the latter consumes
the alcohol produced by the former. The first ap-
proach has been followed by Amber Laboratories
(Universal Foods, USA), and the second approach
has been adopted by the Fromageries Bel in France;
Candida valida has also been demonstrated to
prevent ethanol accumulation when it is grown

Nitrogen source
Molasses Substrate
or whey preparation
Salts
Sterilization
Fermentation
Centrifugation
Cell disruption
Spray dryer
fig0003 Figure 3 Typical process for the production of yeast SCP.
mixed with Candida kefyr (the asexual form of K.
marxianus), increasing the efficiency of whey conver-
sion into biomass up to 20%. A limited oxygen
supply, when hydrocarbons are used as substrates,
has led to the production of some metabolites such
as mono and dicarboxylic acids and ketones.
0022 To sustain high oxygen transfer rates, large air
volumes have to be supplied with high agitation
rates. Alternative fermenter designs include the air-
lift type, which leads to maximum oxygenation with
minimum power requirements, diminishing aeration
costs considerably. In fact, the largest fermenter ever
operated is an air-lift (3000 m3) for the aerobic pro-
duction of Methylophilus methylotrophus by ICI.
Figure 4 shows a simplified diagram of the process
developed by ICI, which is the most successful process
developed for bacterial SCP production. Currently,
the high-cell-density fermentation designs pioneered
by Provesta (a company belonging to Philipps Petrol-
eum) allows them to obtain up to 160 g l1 of yeast
biomass, while traditional fermentation techniques
yield at most 30 g l1. These fermenters have attached
very efficient systems for heat removal and oxygen
transfer.
0023 Once obtained, the microbial biomass is recovered
by filtration or centrifugation. The resulting cell
suspension can be either spray-dried, or the cells
can be broken to obtain extracts, hydrolysates, or
autolysates. Finally, the protein can be concentrated,
isolated, or texturized. In the Philipps Petroleum pro-
cess, owing to the high cell density, the spent medium
is fed directly to the spray-drier without prior concen-
tration.
SINGLE-CELL PROTEIN/Yeasts and Bacteria 5281
Ammonia Methanol Salts Phosphoric acid
Sterilization
Air-lift
fermenter
Flocculation
Centrifugation
Spray dryer
Grinding
Figure 4 Industrial process developed in the UK by ICI for the fig0004
production of Pruteen using Methylophilus methylotrophus grown
in methanol.
Nutritional Value
The main nutritional contribution of SCP either for 0024
human food or animal feed is its high protein content.
Bacteria have a protein concentration ranging from
50 to 85% and yeasts from 45 to 70%. Protein
quality is also quite acceptable, as compared with
vegetable proteins. Generally, SCP from any source
is limited in sulfur-containing amino acids; however,
bacterial proteins tend to have better balances of
essential amino acids than yeasts and other micro-
organisms, particularly with respect to sulfur amino
acids. Some parameters of protein quality are given in
Table 3. When methionine is added to SCP, the pro-
tein quality increases considerably and reaches values
similar to those of casein. (See Amino Acids: Proper-
ties and Occurrence; Metabolism; Protein: Quality.)
SCP is also an important source of vitamins; 0025
actually, brewer’s yeast has long been used as a vita-
min supplement. Vitamin contents are also listed in
Table 3.
Toxicological Aspects
Safety of both the microorganism and the substrate 0026
is an important consideration. Microorganisms used
for SCP production have to be subjected to exten-
sive toxicological clearance. Those microorganisms
 5282 SINGLE-CELL PROTEIN/Yeasts and Bacteria
normally present in fermented foods, such as Sacchar-
omyces cerevisiae, are safe for human consumption.
The main concern has been linked to the use of pet-
roleum derivatives in which residual alkanes must be
removed with solvents. However, some residual
hydrocarbons may still be present, and several reports
have stated the presence of unusually high amounts of
odd-chain fatty acids and paraffins in tissues from
animals fed with SCP from alkanes. These fatty
acids, particularly unsaturated C17, have been
suspected of having toxic effects, even though no
evidence has been reported.
0027 The high content of nucleic acids present in micro-
bial cells also has some consequences. Human con-
sumption of nucleic acids in amounts higher than 2 g
per day could lead to the accumulation of uric acid,
resulting in kidney stones and/or gout onset in suscep-
tible people. The concentration of nucleic acids in the
biomass is highly variable and depends on several
factors. The first element is the nature, species, and
strain of the microorganisms; normally, bacteria are
present in higher concentrations than yeasts. Another
factor is the growth conditions: the higher the growth
rate, the higher the nucleic acids content in the cell.
The nucleic acid content also changes with the
growth phases. For instance, for K. marxianus
grown on whey, the concentration of nucleic acids
reached its peak at the middle of the exponential
phase. Table 4 shows the nucleic acids content of
several SCP products.
0028 In order to reduce the nucleic acid content, two
approaches have been followed: grow the biomass
at low rates or isolate the protein by eliminating
undesirable compounds. The later is usually applied,
to eliminate not only nucleic acids but also the cell
wall. In recent years, research has been conducted on
the use of external (added) endonucleases to hydro-
lyze nucleic acids and so obtain protein isolates free
from these polymers. Immobilized endonucleases
have been proposed particularly for this purpose.
0029 Yeasts and bacterial cell walls are difficult to digest,
leading to poor bioavailability of proteins, flatulence
and diarrhea, and allergic responses. Some cases of
skin rashes, nausea, vomiting, and other allergic reac-
tions have been reported, but they may be eliminated
by reducing cell walls and nucleic acids.
0030 Nucleic acid content in SCP for animal feed is not a
problem, because animals have the enzyme uricase,
which prevents uric acid accumulation. However, cell
wall digestibility in monogastric animals is also poor.
Cell Disruption and Protein Isolation
0031 Many processes to disrupt the cells have been
developed. A common process is autolysis, in which
the biomass is exposed to a heat shock or to chemical
compounds, such as low-molecular-weight thiols.
Yeast autolysis usually takes place when cells are
heated to 45–55
C, and it is enhanced by the pres-
ence of NaCl. Further incubation for around 24 h
induces cellular enzymes, leading to complete cell
lysis. The process also activates endogenous ribo-
nucleases that reduce nucleic acids. Lysis can be fa-
cilitated by the addition of exogenous enzymes such
as proteases, b-glucanases or lysozyme. The disad-
vantages of these techniques are the high costs in-
volved and extensive proteolysis, which reduces the
yield and functional properties of proteins. Chemical
treatments with alkalis, organic solvents, or salts,
which weaken cell walls, are also used. Alkaline treat-
ment may result in undesirable side reactions,
forming compounds such as lysinoalanine and off-
flavors.
Hydrolysis requires the use of hydrochloric acid 0032
at temperatures as high as 100
C, to treat a slurry
with 65–85% solids content, followed by neutraliza-
tion with NaOH. This process has many drawbacks
such as the risk of accidents with concentrated acid,
the need for anticorrosive equipment, which is cost-
intensive, and the destruction of some amino acids
and vitamins, reducing the nutritive value of the
product.
Physical methods to break cell walls are the 0033
methods most widely used. High shear rates are
achieved by means of homogenizers or colloidal
mills and have been used extensively for SCP
processes.
Once the cells have been broken, the protein is 0034
extracted using water or alkaline conditions; the cell
wall debris is removed by centrifugation, and the
protein is further precipitated with acid, salt, or heat
treatment, while the nucleic acids remain in the
supernatant. Usually, microbial proteins have their
maximum solubility at pH 12, and the precipitation
occurs at pH 4.5. The protein isolate is then obtained.
Some chemical modification during protein extrac-
tion includes phosphorylation or succinylation,
which facilitates protein separation from nucleic
acids and improves its functional properties.
Utilization for Human Food
For food applications, besides toxicity and nutritional 0035
quality, organoleptic acceptability and functional
properties are important considerations.
SCP has been used as a protein supplement in baked 0036
goods, cookies, crackers, snacks, soups, noodles, and
special foods like geriatric or baby meals. Its use as
an extender in sausages and other meat products
has been important, mainly in Eastern European
 SINGLE-CELL PROTEIN/Yeasts and Bacteria 5283

countries. Despite the justified production of SCP in Prospects

terms of the world’s protein shortage and widespread
SCP has to compete with other protein sources such 0042
malnutrition, a real demand for a protein is based on
as soy bean, fish meal, and milk proteins. It has been
its favorability in terms of functional properties like
widely demonstrated that in proteins to be used as
solubility, water binding, emulsification capacity, gel-
additives or to be incorporated into a food, the most
ation, whippability, and foam stability. The successful
important factors to be considered are their func-
supplementation of existing products and the replace-
tional properties and price; therefore, these are the
ment of traditional proteins with SCP depend on
main challenges that SCP has to face. Unfortunately,
the availability of proteins matching in functionality,
price, and organoleptic acceptability. production and isolation of protein from microbial
biomass are rather expensive because they are capital-
0037 For food applications, whole dried cells, disrupted
and energy-intensive. Its broad utilization has
cells, and textured protein products are useful. From
been limited for economical reasons. However, auto-
disrupted cells, either protein concentrates or isolates
lysates or hydrolysates prepared mainly from yeasts
can be obtained, which are better suited for the food
have gained a wide acceptability as functional food
industry. Moreover, SCP isolates can compete favor-
ingredients. In addition, recent biotechnological ad-
ably with soy isolates from the functional point of
vances such as high-cell-density fermentations, more
view. However, isolation or concentration increases
production costs dramatically. efficient downstream operations, and the possibility
to genetically improve microorganisms could re-
0038 Processes such as texturization, by spinning and
evaluate SCP.
extrusion, and enzymatic or chemical modification
High-cell-density fermenters have made possible a 0043
can improve the functionality of SCP. For instance,
considerable reduction of equipment size, energy
protein fibers obtained by spinning can form textured
savings, very high productivities, and cheaper down-
protein products such as meat extenders.
stream processing. For instance, direct spray-drying
0039 Enzymatic modification includes partial proteo-
from the fermenter is possible. These kinds of im-
lysis to improve solubility, emulsification capability,
and whippability, or the reverse reaction known as provements could bring SCP to a competitive level.
Currently, Philipps Petroleum is producing Provesta
plastein (peptide bond formation) to improve the
and Provesteen, trade marks for SCP from different
nutritional value through the addition of limiting
strains, using this process (see Table 1).
amino acids. Promising chemical modifications in-
The use of fed-batch fermentations has not been 0044
clude acetylation, which improves the thermal stabil-
fully explored for SCP production. This technique is
ity, succinylation, or phosphorylation to increase the
widely used for the production of bakers’ yeast,
solubility, emulsification, and foaming capacities.
increasing yields and avoiding ethanol accumulation.
However, such modifications tend to reduce the
nutritive value of the proteins. Experiences with Some reports applying this strategy to yeast SCP
production have demonstrated a yield increase up to
phosphorylated yeast proteins have demonstrated
70%. The possibility of implementing continuous
that protein recovery can be improved, reducing nu-
fermentation technologies to improve productivity
cleic acids. Functional properties such as water solu-
has been explored for the production of SCP. A com-
bility, water-holding capacity, and thickening
mercial process operated by Société des Alcohols du
properties can be enhanced, whereas the emulsifying
Vexin (SAV) in France is currently using a continuous
activity is better than soy protein isolate and equiva-
culture for SCP production from whey.
lent to sodium caseinate.
0040 Although dried whole cells have limited functional Genetic engineering has focused on the possibility 0045

of improving substrate utilization. The first modified

properties, they are frequently used as flavor-carrying
microorganism utilized in an industrial process
agents and food binders. Dried yeast cells can act as
and the largest-scale application for genetic engineer-
oil-in-water emulsion stabilizers. (See Emulsifiers:
ing is a strain of Methylophilus methylotrophus
Phosphates as Meat Emulsion Stabilizers; Uses in
developed by ICI in 1977. The improved strain,
Processed Foods.)
grown on methanol, is able to utilize the ammonium
0041 The major market for microbial biomass is as a
ion as a nitrogen source more efficiently than the
flavor enhancer for meat products, soups, gravies,
barbecues, sauces, salad dressings, seasonings, and wild strain, saving 1 mol of ATP per mole of
ammonium assimilated, with an increase in efficiency
any food with savory, cheesy, or meaty flavors (flavor
of 4–7%.
notes associated with the fifth basic flavor called
Considerable research based on genetic engineering 0046
‘umami’), including pizzas, snacks, chips, etc. In
has been carried out to obtain yeasts able to utilize a
fact, yeast protein hydrolysates, autolysates, and
broader range of carbon sources, such as lactose,
extracts have long been used as food flavorings.
 5284 SINGLE-CELL PROTEIN/Yeasts and Bacteria
starch, cellulose, xylose, and chitin, in order to use
cheaper and more available substrates.
0047 Another interesting issue is to obtain easily and/or
genetically controlled autolytic cells, for which differ-
ent approaches have been followed, including the
selection of mutants with weaker cell walls; also, the
introduction of genes coding for lytic enzymes to
facilitate cell disruption, and genes coding for nucle-
ase activity to reduce nucleic acids content, have been
explored. Recently, a system was developed that con-
sists of a regulated promoter that controls two genes
involved in cell wall biogenesis, which led to the
possibility of triggering cell lysis of S. cerevisiae
by the addition of methionine; this system can be
extended to other yeast species. Also, an enhance-
ment of the nutritional value by modification of the
amino acid content, or obtaining proteins with better
functional properties looks promising. All these pos-
sibilities have been investigated, but practical results
will take longer to be implemented.
0048 Another approach to improve the economics of
SCP would be to produce it as a low cost byproduct
in multiproduct microbial processes, such as during
processing of food wastes to reduce the biological
oxygen demand, or as a byproduct from high-added-
value enzymes. Another possibility is the recovery of
nucleic acids from bacteria and yeast biomass to
produce 50 -nucleotides, which can be used as flavor
enhancers.
See also: Single-cell Protein: Algae; Yeasts
Further Reading
Batt CA and Sinskey AJ (1987) Single-cell protein: produc-
tion modification and utilization. In Knorr D (ed.) Food
Biotechnology, pp. 347–362. New York: Marcel Dekker.
Slaughter See Meat: Sources; Structure; Slaughter; Preservation; Eating Quality; Sausages and
Comminuted Products; Analysis; Nutritional Value; Hygiene; Extracts
de la Torre M and Flores-Cotera LB (1993) Proteı́nas Uni-
celulares. In: Garcı́a-Garibay M, Quintero-Ramirez R
and López-Munguı́a A (eds) Biotecnologı́a Alimentaria,
pp. 383–397. Mexico City: Editorial Limusa.
Goldberg I (1985) Single-cell Protein. Berlin: Springer.
Guzmán-Juarez M (1983) Yeast protein. In: Hudson BJF
(ed.) Developments in Food Proteins – 2, pp. 263–291.
London: Elsevier Applied Science.
Harrison JS (1993) Food and fodder yeasts. In: Rose AH
and Harrison JS (eds) The Yeasts, 2nd edn, vol. 5,
pp. 399–433. London: Academic Press.
Litchfield JH (1983) Single-cell proteins. Science 219:
740–746.
Litchfield JH (1991) Food supplements from microbial pro-
tein. In: Goldberg I and Williams R (eds) Biotechnology
and Food Ingredients, pp. 65–109. New York: Van
Nostrand Reinhold.
Moo-Young M and Gregory K (1986) Microbial Biomass
Proteins. London: Elsevier.
Reed G (1982) Microbial biomass, single cell protein, and
other microbial products. In: Reed G (ed.) Prescott &
Dunn’s Industrial Microbiology, 4th edn., pp. 541–592.
Westport CT: AVI.
Reed G and Nagodawithana TW (1991) Yeast Technology,
2nd edn. New York: Van Nostrand Reinhold.
Rolz C (1990) Caracterı́sticas Quı́micas y Bioquı́micas de
la Biomasa Microbiana. Archivos Latinoamericanos de
Nutrición 40(2): 147–193.
Rose AH (ed.) (1979) Microbial Biomass. Economic Micro-
biology, vol. 4. London: Academic Press.
Schlingmann M, Faust U and Scharf U (1984) Bacterial
proteins. In: Hudson BJF (ed.) Developments in Food
Proteins – 3, pp. 139–173. London: Elsevier Applied
Science.