Quality Assurance of Yeast Starter Cultures
New Method for Quality Assurance of Industrial Yeast Starter Cultures
The quality and purity of yeast starter cultures play a crucial role in the production of fermented products such as beer and wine. Until now, specific quality control methods have been used, but they are time-consuming and based on prior knowledge. In a recent study, DNA metabarcoding has now been tested as a new method for rapid and reliable detection of interfering organisms in yeast starter cultures. The results show promising possibilities for non-specific quality control of yeast starter cultures.
Metabarcoding Identifies Interfering Organisms
Modern fermentation processes, especially in beer and wine production, are based on the use of pure starter cultures. These enable predictable, efficient and reproducible ferdmentation results. Therefore, it is of great importance to check the purity of the yeast cultures used in order to achieve optimal results.
DNA metabarcoding is an innovative method for detecting interfering organisms in yeast starter cultures. The results of the study show that the method can be used to quickly and efficiently detect different yeast species in putatively pure cultures. Nevertheless, a more comprehensive and powerful database of validated cultures is needed to further improve the quality of the results. Nevertheless, DNA metabarcoding has great potential to be used as a rapid and efficient method for identifying yeast species in samples.
