6533b82efe1ef96bd129389a

RESEARCH PRODUCT

Conservation and functional preservation of agri-food interest yeasts

subject

description

The use of yeasts in industry is inseparable from their ability to be produced and dehydrated. This dehydration process causes various dysfunctions in yeast cells that affect their functionality and viability. In order to protect yeasts from dehydration, food additives are often used as emulsifiers and antioxidants. However, yeasts are able to produce naturally protective substances, such as glutathione (GSH) and trehalose (TRE). In this context, three non-Saccharomyces (NS) strains, belonging to the different genera and species Torulaspora delbrueckii, Metschnikowia pulcherrima and Lachancea thermotolerans, were studied in this thesis. Despite the great interest aroused by their multiple agro-food applications, their dehydration resistance mechanisms associated with the synthesis of GSH and TRE, are currently unknown. This study is ultimately aimed at the formulation of new NS yeast dried strains without any food additives. In a first chapter, the impact of the “reference yeast” Saccharomyces cerevisiae dehydration in a pre-pilot fluidized bed has been correlated with the synthesis of GSH and TRE. It was possible to modulate the culture medium composition in order to optimize cell preservation before, during and after dehydration. In a second chapter, the previously defined conditions were applied to NS yeasts strains in order to understand the effects of dehydration on their microbial functionality. This study demonstrated that GSH plays an important role in NS yeasts protection, depending on the culture and dehydration conditions. In a third chapter, some oxidation resistance phenomena of the three NS strains were studied. It was clearly demonstrated that the susceptibility of cells to oxidative attack was dependent on culture-dehydration conditions and was yeast strain-dependent. Finally, in a fourth chapter, an in-depth biochemical study of the most dehydration-sensitive yeast strain, L. thermotolerans, was performed by synchrotron FTIR micro-spectroscopy. Cells grown in GSM (medium favoring the production of GSH), besides showing a better viability, showed a greater intensity in the spectral bands of lipids CH2 and CH3, associated with the plasma membrane fluidity. In addition, TSM grown cells (TSM is a medium favoring the production of TRE) exhibited a higher protein denaturation, suggested by the intensity of β-sheet peaks, and C=O (lipid oxides) bands correlated with lipid peroxidation. These data can explain the decreased of viability of this strain during production-dehydration process. The fundamental knowledge acquired in this study will be useful to obtain new dehydrated yeast strains without additives and with high performance. It will be useful also to improve the formulation and dehydration methods currently used in industry.