Yeasts and food - Beer

Saccharomyces cerevisiae

Beer is a famous beverage mainly consumed in the north and centre European countries. It is appreciated by almost all people there and most of them don´t know that this product is in the roots of Biotechnology. Thus, a few posts will be dedicated to the origins and methods to produce this well-known product.
Traditionally and historically yeasts are associated with alcoholic fermentation. This can be well understood in face of the role of yeasts in the production of alcoholic beverages, like beer and wine.

 From a scientific point of view, this straight association dates back to the earlier steps of microbiology in the middle of the nineteenth century. By that time, yeasts became widely recognized as living organisms and yeasts and fermentation began to be studied from the biological point of view.

Scientific work on alcoholic fermentation by yeasts therefore played a central role in the foundation of both microbiology and biochemistry, with contributions of well-known scientists like Theodor Schwann, Louis Pasteur or Eduard Buchner. Nowadays, yeast biotechnology does not mean exclusively alcoholic fermentation. A wide range of new biotechnological applications for yeasts emerged, driven by the development of recombinant DNA technology and, more recently, by the publication of the Saccharomyces cerevisiae genome. You can learn more about Saccharomyces cerevisiae genome here.

The uses of yeasts in Biotechnology are immense. In the posts to come we will focus our attention in the use of them in the production of beer.