Yeast

What is Yeast?

Yeast is a form of very small, single-celled fungus that scientists refer to as microorganisms. Under biological classifications, they belong to the fungus group and are the main factor in transforming fermented sugar to alcohol and other byproducts of the fermentation process. Today, the biochemistry process which causes the fermenting of dough by the yeast is known as Fermentation. There are hundreds of forms and species of yeasts. The scientific title of a form of yeast which is also known as the baker’s yeast is saccharomyces cerevisiae. The scientific word “Saccharo” means sugar, and “Myles” means fungus. The name of the species, “cerevisiae”, is a Latin word meaning The Goddess of Cultivation”. Yeast is a necessary component for baking bread. Using yeast in such products leads to the fermentation and development of the dough and brings ideal baking, texture, and flavor to the final bread, confectionary, or cake products.

 Producing Yeast:

Since yeast can be considered as a single-celled plant, its production may also be considered as a type of cultivation. The raw material for producing the yeast and its nutrition and development can be any type of substance that has sugar. But due to the high costs of using sugar-rich substances which are high in energy and also other substances which are directly used by the population, the best and most economical choice is the beetroot and sugarcane molasses which is a waste of the sugar extraction process, and today, beetroot and sugarcane molasses are used as the main raw materials for producing yeast in many countries, including Iran.

During the yeast production process, various substances play an important part as micro-nutrients such as nitrogen, phosphorus, zinc, and various B Group vitamins, the absence of any of them causes many disorders such as lack of growth, drop of yeast activity, contamination of the production line, etc. Production of yeast happens through a biotechnological process in modern factories in such a way that the product is fed with the sugar substance inside a completely sterile and healthy environment and after the growth stage is completed inside the fermenters, it is transferred to the separators and after passing hot filtering tanks, they enter the dryer and then put in normal or vacuumed packaging, ready for distribution to the market.