Defining yeast extracts to understand composition influence on bioprocess performance

Hydrolysates from yeast and plants are widely used in the biotech industry due to the uniqueness of the complex nutrients they bring. These compounds have been shown to interact in a complex biochemical network, a native feature of yeast extracts that cannot be mimicked by media supplementation or other nutrients.

In response to the rising demand for high quality and well-defined hydrolysates, Bio Springer, as the global leader in yeast and yeast extracts, has launched a Quality by Design project with the primary objective to reduce or eliminate the risks associated with hydrolysates, including inconsistent performance due to lot-to-lot variability. Since hydrolysate variability can have a significant impact on bioprocess performance, BioSpringer performed a full characterization of our yeast products using orthogonal methods along with metabolomics, biochemical and peptide profiling, and analysis of minerals and trace elements.

Our study led to the identification of a series of yeast extract key components that significantly correlate with growth, yield and several product quality attributes. This approach represents an important step towards understanding the impact of individual biochemical components on process robustness and enhancement of production yields. The insights gained from this project will help develop a new generation of high quality yeast extracts for the biotech industry.