Technological features of Saccharomyces cerevisiae var. boulardii for potential probiotic wheat beer development

Abstract

A comparative controlled study was carried out to evaluate the performance of Saccharomyces cerevisiae var. boulardii to act as brewer's yeast for potential probiotic beer production. The yeast performance on the beer wort (cell growth, sugar consumption and products production) was compared with the conventional top-fermentation Saccharomyces cerevisiae. To improve the yeast metabolism, changes were made in the malt concentration of the wort recipe and in the ramp mash temperature profile, emphasizing β-amylase activity to provide high glucose concentration in the wort. Next, metabolism close to conventional brewer's yeast was achieved. Saccharomyces cerevisiae var. boulardii survivability in the beer and after in vitro gastrointestinal transit was assessed as the indicative of potential probiotic properties in the beer. The yeast population did not decrease dramatically over the storage period, withstanding alive above the minimal dose prescribed to confer health benefit to the host. The present work shows an alternative method to produce potential probiotic wheat beer. However, Saccharomyces cerevisiae var. boulardii metabolism is still not completely understood, especially the metabolism on the wort sugar and the optimized conditions of the wort recipe and ramp mash temperature profile.