Special Issue 9801 - Yeasts in the Dairy Industry: Positive and Negative Aspects

Publication description

Proceedings of the Symposium organized by Group F47, held in Copenhagen (Denmark), 2–3 September 1996
Edited by M. Jakobsen (Denmark), J. Narvhus (Norway) & B.C. Viljoen (South Africa)

Positive as well as negative roles played by yeasts in dairy products are described in the papers of the present Proceedings, with emphasis on the potential advantages of the presence or deliberate use of yeasts as starter cultures for fermentation and maturation of dairy products, particularly cheeses. The important technological properties described are aroma formation, lipolytic and proteolytic activities, desirable interactions with starter cultures, and modification of the microenvironment in cheeses by assimilation of compounds such as lactose and citrate, important not only for cheese maturation but also for undesired microbial activity leading to quality defects. Other key areas described are the ecology and taxonomy of yeasts in dairies and the use of advanced methods, including molecular techniques, for the characterization and identification of yeasts. With the potential use of yeasts as starter cultures in the dairy industry in mind, a paper on brewer’s yeast is included to describe an example of the highly controlled use of yeasts in industrial fermentations.