The Use of Fatty Acid and Sterol Analyses as Quality Control Methods in the Brewing Industry
G. Morakile, 1 J. L. F. Kock, 1,
2 and P. J. Botes 1
1 Department of Microbiology and Biochemistry, University of the Free State, P O Box 339, Bloemfontein, Republic of South Africa
2 Corresponding author. E-mail: KockJL@sci.uovs.ac.za
J. Inst. Brew. 108(2), 160-163, 2002 | VIEW ARTICLE
ABSTRACT
Fatty acid and sterol analyses were evaluated as alternative quality control methods to conventional differentiation and characterisation systems in the brewing industry. The presence of linoleic acid (18:2) in brewing yeast could be used to distinguish these from closely related yeast species. Furthermore, the absence of lanosterol and stigmasterol enabled differentiation of the brewing yeast from the rest of the closely related species tested. However, both fatty acid and sterol methods were not sensitive enough to detect mutants (variants) of brewing yeast. Conventional brewing identification tests proved sensitive enough to detect variants at low concentrations.
Key words:
Brewing yeasts, fatty acids, quality control, sterols.
Publication no. G-2002-0610-02R ©2002 The Institute & Guild of Brewing