Flash hydrolysis of yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae) for protein recovery

Protein-rich spent yeast is a waste by-product of brewing and other fermentation industry. A continuous-flow hydrothermal treatment called ‘flash hydrolysis’ was deployed for protein recovery and yeast disposal. A feed slurry with 1–15 wt% yeast was hydrolyzed at temperatures ranging between 160 and 280 °C for a very short residence time of 10 ± 2 s. Using 10 wt% yeast at 240 °C, 66.5% carbon, 70.4% nitrogen and 61.0% overall yeast biomass was solubilized in liquid hydrolysate. The liquid hydrolysate in which 63.1% of analyzed amino acids in yeast feed were solubilized, was tested as nutrient for cultivation of E. coli in a continuous bioreactor. The steady-state E. coli concentration was 1.18 g L−1 and 0.93 g L−1 using liquid hydrolysate and commercial yeast extract, respectively. Finally, the kinetic parameters for yeast solubilization (reaction order, activation energy and pre-exponential factor) were found to be 0.86, 21.3 kJ mol−1 and 19.36 [L g−1]n−1 s−1, respectively.