Growth of yeasts on spent lucerne whey and their effectiveness in scavenging residual protein

Abstract

Abstract The yeasts Saccharomyces and Rhodotorula were grown on spent lucerne whey under continuous culture and other culture conditions; cell yield was 5–6 g/1. The amount of protein and amino acids remaining in the whey after fermentation was determined as a means of checking the ability of these yeasts to scavenge this “amino acid fraction” from the whey. Saccharomyces in continuous culture gave the greater depletion of 2.8 g/1, which was improved by the addition of carbohydrate to 3.7 g/1. These figures were, however, only 50% of the total amino acid fraction in the whey. Of a number of other micro-organisms tested, Pseudomonas sp. and Aspergillus niger showed the most promise, but neither were as convenient as the yeasts.