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Factors affecting the outcome of the acidification power test of yeast quality: Critical reappraisal

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Abstract

Brewery bottom yeast strain 95 from thePilsner Urquell propagation unit was used to reappraise the efficiency of the acidification power (AP) test consisting in determining the spontaneous (oxygen-induced) and glucose-induced medium acidification caused by yeast and lactic acid bacteria under standard conditions, and used widely for assessing and predicting the vitality of industrial strains. AP was evaluated in yeast stored for different periods of time (0–28 d) at 4 °C, at different temperatures before and during the test (0–55 °C), and at different concentrations of cells and glucose and different cells-to-glucose ratios. All these factors had a strong effect on acidification kinetics and the AP value. By contrast, the duration of the lag period between yeast collection and the test (0–6 h) had no perceptible effect on the AP value. The best results were achieved at saturation concentrations of cells (>10 g pressed yeast or ≈14 g yeast slurry per 100 mL) and glucose (≈3 %) and at 25 °C. Since an exact evaluation of acidification characteristics depends strongly on the kinetics of the process, the AP test should include monitoring the time course of the acidification.

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Abbreviations

AP:

acidification power

APmin :

acidification power calculated with the aid of ΔpHsp min

ΔpH10 :

pH change after 10 min

ΔpH20 :

pH change after 20 min

ΔpHsp :

spontaneous pH change after suspending yeast in water

ΔpHGlc :

Glc-induced pH change

YATA:

yeast acidification and turbidity analyzer

ΔpHmin :

pH change at the moment of strongest acidification (attainment of lowest pH value)

ΔpHsp min :

pH change at the moment of the strongest spontaneous acidification (attainment of the lowest pH value)

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Microbiology, Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, 142 20, Prague, Czechia

    K. Sigler

  2. Research Institute of Brewing and Malting, 120 44, Prague 2, Czechia

    A. Mikyška & K. Kosař

  3. Faculty of Mathematics and Physics, Charles University, 121 16, Prague, Czechia

    P. Gabriel & M. Dienstbier

Authors
  1. K. Sigler
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  2. A. Mikyška
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  3. K. Kosař
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  4. P. Gabriel
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  5. M. Dienstbier
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Correspondence to K. Sigler.

Additional information

This work was supported by Research Center IM 0570 of theMinistry of Education, Youth and Sports of the Czech Republic and by theInstitutional Research Concepts of theInstitute of Microbiology (AV 0Z 5020 0510), theResearch Institute of Brewing and Malting (MSM 601 936 9701) andFaculty of Mathematics and Physics, Charles University (MSM 002 162 0835).

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Sigler, K., Mikyška, A., Kosař, K. et al. Factors affecting the outcome of the acidification power test of yeast quality: Critical reappraisal. Folia Microbiol 51, 525–534 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02931616

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02931616

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