Metabolic Activity of the Dehydrated Yeast by Spray Drying

In this investigation, the reactivation of the Mexican brewer's yeast dehydrated by spray drying as a way of generating cells with metabolic activity similar to the fresh yeast was studied. Fresh yeast, dehydrated-reactivated yeast, and unreactivated-dehydrated yeast were used. During the fermentation, fresh and dehydrated-reactivated yeast presented a greater growth rate than dehydrated yeast. Slow rehydration allowed an increase in alcohol production than that observed in a rapid rehydration. The sugars were metabolized faster by fresh than by dehydrated-reactivated, but this was faster than unreactivated-dehydrated yeast. The pH evolution did not show significant differences (α = 0.05) among yeasts. The reactivation was important for the yeast metabolic activity.