Dairy manufacturing generates whey by-products, many of them considered waste; others, such as whey permeate, a powder high in lactose and minerals from deproteinated whey, have unrealized potential. This study identified yeast species capable of utilizing lactose from whey permeate to produce ethanol or organic acids, and identified fungal species that reduced the acidity of whey by-products. Reconstituted whey permeate was fermented anaerobically or aerobically for 34 days, using species from Cornell University’s Food Safety Lab, Alcaine Research Group, and Omega Labs. Yeast species: Kluyveromyces marxianus, Kluyveromyces lactis, Dekkera anomala, Brettanomyces claussenii, Brettanomyces bruxellensis; mold species: Mucor genevensis and Aureobasidium pullulans. Density, pH, cell concentrations, organic acids, ethanol, and sugar profiles were monitored. Under anoxic conditions, K. marxianus exhibited the greatest lactose utilization and ethanol production (day 20: lactose non-detectable; 4.52% ± 0.02 ethanol). Under oxic conditions, D. anomala produced the most acetic acid (day 34: 9.18 ± 3.38 g/L), and A. pullulans utilized the most lactic acid, increasing the fermentate’s pH (day 34: 0.26 ± 0.21 g/L, pH: 7.91 ± 0.51). This study demonstrates that fermentation of whey could produce value-added alcoholic or organic acid beverages, or increase the pH of acidic by-products, yielding new products and increasing sustainability.
Acid whey is a by-product generated in large quantities during dairy processing, and is characterized by its low pH and high chemical oxygen demand. Due to a lack of reliable disposal pathways, acid whey currently presents a major sustainability challenge to the dairy industry. The study presented in this paper proposes a solution to this issue by transforming yogurt acid whey (YAW) into potentially palatable and marketable beverages through yeast fermentation. In this study, five prototypes were developed and fermented by Kluyveromyces marxianus, Brettanomyces bruxellensis, Brettanomyces claussenii, Saccharomyces cerevisiae (strain: Hornindal kveik), and IOC Be Fruits (IOCBF) S. cerevisiae, respectively. Their fermentation profiles were characterized by changes in density, pH, cell count, and concentrations of ethanol and organic acids. The prototypes were also evaluated on 26 sensory attributes, which were generated through a training session with 14 participants. While S. cerevisiae (IOCBF) underwent the fastest fermentation (8 days) and B. claussenii the slowest (21 days), K. marxianus and S. cerevisiae (Hornindal kveik) showed similar fermentation rates, finishing on day 20. The change in pH of the fermentate was similar for all five strains (from around 4.45 to between 4.25 and 4.31). Cell counts remained stable throughout the fermentation for all five strains (at around 6 log colony-forming units (CFU)/mL) except in the case of S. cerevisiae (Hornindal kveik), which ultimately decreased by 1.63 log CFU/mL. B. bruxellensis was the only strain unable to utilize all of the sugars in the substrate, with residual galactose remaining after fermentation. While both S. cerevisiae (IOCBF)- and B. claussenii-fermented samples were characterized by a fruity apple aroma, the former also had an aroma characteristic of lactic acid, dairy products, bakeries and yeast. A chemical odor characteristic of petroleum, gasoline or solvents, was perceived in samples fermented by B. bruxellensis and K. marxianus. An aroma of poorly aged or rancid cheese or milk also resulted from B. bruxellensis fermentation. In terms of appearance and mouthfeel, the S. cerevisiae (IOCBF)-fermented sample was rated the cloudiest, with the heaviest body. This study provides a toolkit for product development in a potential dairy-based category of fermented alcoholic beverages, which can increase revenue for the dairy industry by upcycling the common waste product YAW.
Acid whey from Greek-style yogurt (YAW) is an underutilized byproduct and a challenge for the dairy industry. One alternative is the fermentation of YAW by yeasts such as Saccharomyces, Brettanomyces, and Kluyveromyces spp., to produce new styles of fermented beverages. Previous research in our group suggested that the sugar profiles of the dairy coproducts impacted the fermentation profiles produced by B. claussenii. The present work aims to describe the fermentation of dairy sugars by S. cerevisiae, K. marxianus, and B. claussenii, under conditions comparable to those of YAW. For this purpose, four preparations of yeast nitrogen base, each containing 40 g/L of either lactose (LAC), glucose (GLU), galactose (GAL), or a 1:1 mixture of glucose and galactose (GLU:GAL), all at pH 4.20, were used as fermentation media. The fermentation was performed independently by each organism at 25 °C under anoxic conditions, while density, pH, cell count, ethanol, and organic acids were monitored. Non-linear modeling was used to characterize density curves, and Analysis of Variance and Tukey’s Honest Significant Difference tests were used to compare fermentation products. K. marxianus and S. cerevisiae displayed rapid sugar consumption with consistent ethanol yields in all media, as opposed to B. claussenii, which showed more variable results. The latter organism exhibited what appears to be a selective glucose fermentation in GLU:GAL, which will be explored in the future. These results provide a deeper understanding of dairy sugar utilization by relevant yeasts, allowing for future work to optimize fermentations to improve value-added beverage and ingredient production from YAW.
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