ALTERNATIVES FOR THE USE OF DRIED YEAST AND ITS PRODUCTS

摘要

Distiller's yeast is a common co-product of ethanol production from sugarcane substrates in Brazil, but only a small part of the produced yeast is really separated, dried and commercialised. It is possible to separate at least 15 g of dried yeast per litre of produced ethanol with no effects on the ethanol yield. Most of this commercial yeast material with almost 40% protein is directed to the local animal feed industry, and only a small part of it is exported also mainly for animal and pet feed markets. Since there is a big potential for increasing the production of this material with low investment cost, it can be directed to further processing and new routes for production. For example, yeast autolysates, yeast cell wall fractions, yeast extracts and concentrated yeast protein fractions were developed and tested, opening new possibilities for different applications in animal feed and human food. Many of these applications are very attractive and will represent a substantial increase in the profits of ethanol production.