Enzymatic conversion of Brewer’s Spent Yeast as raw material for glutamic acid production

Abstract

Brewer’s Spent Yeast (BSY) is a fermented waste from the brewery industry, which is abundant and contains high levels of glutamic acid and glutamine. BSY is potential as a raw material for glutamic acid for natural food flavouring. The purpose of this study was to determine the potential of BSY as the glutamic acid source through the enzymatic protease conversion process. The protease was produced by Bacillus sp. SK II-5 and characterized through the level of activity and protein total content testing. BSY was converted enzymatically then analyzed using TLC (Thin Layer Chromatography) and spectrophotometric for amino acid and MSG (Monosodium Glutamate) content respectively. The results of this study showed that BSY had the potential as a glutamic acid source through the protease enzymatic conversion process and could be an alternative raw material for natural food enhancer. Detection of glutamic acid with TLC showed that all samples contained glutamic acid which was indicated by Rf value of 0.61 referring to MSG markers. The highest MSG content (0.166 M) was achieved by 6% of protease concentration after 12-hours incubation.