Nature Abhors a Vacuum: Highly Diverse Mechanisms Enable Spoilage Fungi to Disperse,Survive, and Propagate in Commercially Processed and Preserved Foods

Fungal spoilage in processed foods remains a challenge for food manufacturers despite the increasing availability of diverse processing and formulation strategies used to control foodborne microorganisms. Physiological features of yeasts and molds contribute to their tolerance to thermal processing, acidity, desiccation, and oxygen and nutrient limitations. These features variably include growth form, cell wall structure, cytoplasmic composition, cell membrane‐bound proteins, and secretion of secondary metabolites. Collectively, these mechanisms contribute to the ability of fungi to disperse, survive, and propagate in highly restrictive food environments. The diversity of fungal growth and survival mechanisms has resulted in organisms adapted to nearly all food environments; although, only a small subset of fungi are particularly suited for spoilage of a given product. The relationship between the individual physiology and metabolic capabilities of a yeast or mold and the product's specific physicochemical attributes and processing history determines spoilage potential. Explicit characterization of the fungal features responsible for this extremotolerance contributes to more targeted and effective control strategies.     

USE OF FLOW CYTOMETRY FOR RAPID ESTIMATION OF INTRACELLULAR EVENTS IN BREWING YEASTS

A flow cytometric method based on staining with fluorescein diacetate (FDA) for rapid measurement of the fluorescence intensity (FI) of individual brewing yeast cells is reported. Distinct changes in the FI of yeast populations during the course of both laboratory scale and brewery fermentations were observed. The changes followed a characteristic pattern defined as the FI-profile. The FI-profile was related to the rate of attenuation as well as changes in yeast glycogen and ergosterol contents. The results obtained suggest that flow cytometry can be applied for estimation of intracellular events in brewing yeasts and prediction of their performance.     

Coadaptation ofDrosophila and yeasts in their natural habitat

The mutualistic interactions of cactophilicDrosophila and their associated yeasts in the Sonoran Desert are studied as a system which has evolved within the framework of their host cactus stem chemistry. Because theDrosophila-yeast system is saphrophytic, their responses are not thought to directly influence the evolution of the host. Host cactus stem chemistry appears to play an important role in determining where cactophilicDrosophila breed and feed. Several chemicals have been identified as being important. These include sterols and alkaloids of senita as well as fatty acids and sterol diols of agria and organpipe cactus. Cactus chemistry appears to have a limited role in directly determining the distribution of cactus-specific yeasts. Those effects which are known are due to unusual lipids of organpipe cactus and triterpene glycosides of agria and organpipe cactus.Drosophilayeast interactions are viewed as mutualistic and can take the form of (1) benefits to theDrosophila by either direct nutritional gains or by detoxification of harmful chemicals produced during decay of the host stem tissue and (2) benefits to the yeast in the form of increased likelihood of transmission to new habitats. Experiments on yeast-yeast interactions in decaying agria cactus provide evidence that the yeast community is coadapted. This coadaptation among yeasts occurs in two manners: (1) mutualistic increases in growth rates (which are independent of the presence ofDrosophila larvae) and (2) stabilizing competitive interactions when growth reaches carrying capacity. This latter form is dependent on larval activity and results in benefits to the larvae present. In this sense, the coadapted yeast community is probably also coadapted with respect to itsDrosophila vector.     

LONG-CHAIN FATTY ACID COMPOSITION AS A CRITERION FOR YEAST DISTINCTION IN THE BREWING INDUSTRY

The diversity of yeasts isolated from brewing plants and its role on beer quality makes yeast distinction a major concern in industrial microbiological control. Several approaches have been tried to develop rapid and simple methods to perform such tasks. Among these, stands the utilization of long-chain fatty acid composition of total yeast biomass. In this paper results are reported showing the potential of this technique to characterize yeast flora isolated from industrial plants. Fatty acid profiles of brewing species are clearly differentiated from those of non-Saccharomyces strains using statistical data treatment by principal component analysis (PCA). Distinction between brewing and wild strains of Saccharomyces spp. was not apparent. In comparison, fatty acid profiling showed higher discriminating ability than growth on lysine medium for non-Saccharomyces strains. For distinction of S. cerevisiae var. diastaticus from other Saccharomyces strains, growth on starch medium showed to be necessary.     

Characterization of new yeast lipases

Previously, we used a simple, sensitive agar plate method to screen lipase activity from 1229 selected cultures, including 508 bacteria, 479 yeasts, 230 actinomycetes and 12 fungi, that covered many genera and species. About 25% of the cultures tested were lipase-positive. We also expanded our screening method to focus specifically on the pH dependence and thermostability of these lipase activities. In this report, we have characterized 25 yeast lipases, obtained from our screening program, on the basis of their positional specificity against triglycerides. Lipase was produced by growing cultures on nutrient medium in the presence of vegetable oil at 25°C for 4 d. Of the 25 new yeast lipases analyzed, 19 showed 1,3-positional specificity and 6 showed random specificity. No 2-positional specific lipases were found. Among those cultures with highest lipase activity are: Candida silvicola NRRL YB-2846 (random); Candida sp. 55 (random); Candida sp. 125 (random); Pichia americana NRRL Y-2156 (1,3-specific); P. muscicola NRRL Y-7005 (random); P. petersanii NRRL YB-3808 (1,3-specific); and Yarrowia lipolytica NRRL YB-423 (random). Characterization of Candida sp. strain 55 lipase on its substrate preference showed that this enzyme hydrolyzed soybean oil triglyceride species LLLn, LLL, LLO, and LLP more readily than LOO, LOP, OOO, LOS, and POO, where L=linoleic, Ln=linolenic, O=oleic, P=palmitic, and S=stearin.     

Incidence of Land and Physicochemical Composition of Apples on the Qualitative and Quantitative Development of Microbial Flora During Cider Fermentations

Lactic acid bacteria and yeasts were numerated, isolated and identified from ciders prepared with the same variety of apple from apple trees grown on three different lands: silt, siliceous clay and green clay. The land has an incidence on the time (earliness) of ripeness of the apples and on their sugar content and, therefore, on the development of the microbial flora in the ciders obtained from these fruits. The same genera of yeasts and lactic acid bacteria were isolated from the three ciders, except the yeast Candida famata exclusively found in the must obtained from apples grown on silt. At the quantitative level, the highest development of yeasts was observed in the must from the land green clay whereas lactic acid bacteria growth was enhanced in the must from the land siliceous clay.     

Utilization of post‐fermentation yeasts for yeast extract production by autolysis: the effect of yeast strain and saponin from Quillaja saponaria

Spent yeasts, a co‐product from fermentation processes, are a source for unconvential autolysis processes. In this study, five post‐fermentation yeast strains that are often used in fermentation processes were used: Saccharomyces cerevisiae Ethanol Red (Lessafre), Kluyveromyces marxianus LOCK 0026, K. marxianus NCYC 179, Scheffersomyces stipitis NCYC 1541 and Pichia angusta NCYC 495. Autolysis was conducted at 50°C for 48 hours in the presence of saponins from Quillaja saponaria . The concentrations of proteins and free amino acids in the yeast autolysates were evaluated using IR spectroscopy and chromatography. The lysates were found to be good sources of essential amino acids, which constituted between 29.3% (S. cerevisiae ) and 40.7% (K. marxianus LOCK 0026) of the amino acid pools. The largest pools of free amino acids were found in autolysates of S. cerevisiae Ethanol Red (44.9 g/L) and P. angusta NCYC 495 (40.53 g/L). Saponin can be used as an auxiliary or alternative to conventional methods of cell lysis, especially since Q. saponaria extracts are approved for use in foods and could have significant health benefits. The usability of five post‐fermentation yeast strains as a source of valuable nitrogen compounds in unconventional salt‐free lysates was demonstrated for the first time in the present study. Copyright © 2017 The Institute of Brewing & Distilling