Properties of hydrogel materials used for entrapment of microbial cells in production of fermented beverages.
Approaches using immobilized biological materials are very promising for application in different branches of the food industry, especially in the production of fermented beverages. Materials tested by our team for the process of entrapment belong to the family of charged polysaccharides able to form beaded hydrogels by ionotropic gelation (e.g. alginate, pectate, kappa-carrageenan) and synthetic polymers (e.g. polyvinyl alcohol) forming bead- and lens-shaped hydrogels by thermal sol/gel transition. Concentration of a gel, conditions and instrumentation of gelation process, bead and size distribution, porosity, diffusion properties, mechanical, storage and operational stability, and many other parameters were followed and optimized. Our work has been oriented especially to practical applications of immobilized cells. Brewing yeast cells were successfully immobilized by entrapment materials and used in a process of batch and continual production of beer, including primary and secondary fermentation of wort. Other applications include continual production of ethanol by fermentation of different saccharide substrates (molasses, glucose syrup, wheat hydrolysate), mead and non-alcoholic beverages production.
Navrátil
Marián
M
Department of Biochemical Technology, Faculty of Chemical and Food Technology, Slovak University of Technology, Bratislava, Slovak Republic. navratil@chelin.chtf.stuba.sk
Gemeiner
Peter
P
Klein
Jaroslav
J
Sturdík
Ernest
E
Malovíková
Anna
A
Nahálka
Jozef
J
Vikartovská
Alica
A
Dömény
Zoltán
Z
Smogrovicová
Daniela
D
D001515:Beer / Q000382:microbiology; D001628:Beverages / Q000382:microbiology*; D018914:Cells, Immobilized; D000431:Ethanol / Q000378:metabolism; D005285:Fermentation; D005516:Food Microbiology; D005524:Food Technology / Q000295:instrumentation; D020100:Hydrogels; D010368:Pectins; D012441:Saccharomyces cerevisiae; D014574:Uronic Acids
D020100:Hydrogels; D014574:Uronic Acids; C018402:traumacel; D000431:Ethanol; D010368:Pectins; C003181:polygalacturonic acid