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General presentation of Yeast
Food Yeast
Feed Yeast
Yeast Extract
Yeast Extract with natural nucleotides
Autolysed Yeast
Yeast Cell Wall
Yeast Beta-Glucan
  The history of Yeast Products in brief
Main categories of commercial yeasts
The history of Yeast Products in briefRetour en haut de page
  Early in the history of man, yeasts were used to prepare foodstuffs such as beer, wine, bread and cheese. In the 17th century, Van Leeuwenhoek used his microscope to observe yeast in beer. In the 19th century Pasteur established that yeasts were living organisms. They reproduce themselves using simple nutrients such as sugar, nitrogen and phosphorus. These nutrients are present for example in grape must used for the production of wine. At the moment many different kinds of yeasts are distinguished based on their origin, composition and properties.

The industrial production of active (live) yeast, "Saccharomyces cerevisiae", began in 1850. This yeast was used in the production of bread. During the first half of the 20th century the Germans started to consume inactivated yeast as a food ingredient.

The industrial production of Yeast Extract began in the 1950s. In 1974 the first commercial Yeast Extract containing 5'GMP, a natural nucleotide coming from the yeast RNA, was produced on an industrial scale.
Main categories of commercial yeastsRetour en haut de page
  Today a large number of different yeast species are used commercially :
  • Baker's yeasts and lactic yeasts are the main "primary grown yeasts", which means that they are cultivated on purpose for direct processing into Specialty Yeast Products.
     
  • In the food industry yeasts are also grown on sugars that originate from cereals, as for example in beer or spirit production. They are called brewer's yeasts or distiller's yeasts.
  Note : Some yeasts are cultivated on non-food substrates such as waste products from the paper or timber industry.
  • EURaSYP, the European Association for Specialty Yeast Products, deals only with ingredients originating from yeast cultivated on food-grade substrates, which correspond to yeasts used in the food industry.
 
  • Baker's yeasts are grown mainly on molasses (a co-product of the sugar industry) under aerobic conditions i.e. in the presence of oxygen.
     
  • Brewer's yeasts grow under anaerobic conditions (without oxygen), except for the few first hours of the beer production. Malted barley is used as the main raw material, together with hops.
     
    Baker's and Brewer's yeasts generally belong to the species Saccharomyces cerevisiae.
     
  • Lactic yeasts generally belong to the species Kluyveromyces and are cultivated under aerobic conditions (with oxygen), mostly on whey (a co-product of the dairy industry).
The growth conditions during cultivation are controlled to generate yeast with a specific protein content, a balanced profile of amino-acids, B group vitamins and trace minerals, thus giving them an unique and exceptional nutritional value and taste.

In order to know exactly the characteristics of the Specialty Yeast Product they use, the customers should always be clearly informed of the yeast species and the substrate used for its growth (molasses, malted barley and hops, whey).
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News
Le 17/03/2009
Position paper on the EU GM Regulations and yeast extracts
Background Genetically modified food and feed are regulated in the EU by: • Regulation (EC) No 1829/2003.of the Europe...

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Does Yeast Extract contain MSG (mono sodium glutamate) ?

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