Low-temperature thermal drying of Saccharomyces cerevisiae starter culture for food production

The production of low-temperature thermally-dried cells of Saccharomyces cerevisiae at 32 °C is examined in the present investigation. Cells are obtained in a thin layer after heating for 4 h in an incubator. This thermally-dried starter culture showed acceptable fermentation efficiency, proved by repeated batch fermentations of glucose. The starter culture, when compared with freeze-dried cells, showed better fermentation ability. Storage of thermally-dried S. cerevisiae for one month showed resistance to loss of fermentation efficiency. The chemical composition of volatiles produced during fermentation were similar to those obtained with freeze-dried and wet starter culture fermentations. The thermally-dried cells effectively ferment at low temperatures.