BIOENCAPSULATION 

Minerva Biotecnologica 2000 December;12(4):319-30

Copyright © 2000 EDIZIONI MINERVA MEDICA

language: English

Beer production using immobilized cell technology

Willaert R.

Laboratory of Brewing and Fermentation Technology, Department of Industrial Sciences, Hogeschool Gent, Ghent, Belgium

In the brew­ing indus­try, fer­men­ta­tion and mat­u­ra­tion tech­nol­o­gy in ­most brew­er­ies are ­time-con­sum­ing low pro­duc­tiv­ity ­batch pro­cess­es. Continuous immob­il­ised ­yeast ­cell tech­nol­o­gy has ­been exam­ined and eval­u­at­ed to inten­si­fy ­these tra­di­tion­al fer­men­ta­tion pro­cess­es. Immobilised ­cell ­systems are het­er­o­ge­ne­ous ­systems in ­which con­sid­er­able ­mass trans­fer lim­i­ta­tions can ­occur, result­ing in a ­changed ­yeast metab­olism. Proper selec­tion and ­design of the car­ri­er mate­ri­al ­should go ­hand in ­hand ­with the ­design of the acces­so­ry reac­tor. The var­i­ous car­ri­er mate­ri­als ­which ­have ­been test­ed and ­used for ­beer pro­duc­tion, are dis­cussed. Interesting guide­lines for the selec­tion of a suit­able immob­il­ised ­cell reac­tor are giv­en. An over­view of the respec­tive appli­ca­tions for the brew­ing indus­try is pro­vid­ed and sev­er­al rel­e­vant indus­tri­al appli­ca­tions are dis­cussed.