Preparation of beta-glucan microparticles from brewer's yeast using spray drying method

β–glukan, homopolimer glukoze, poznat je po stimulaciji imunološkog sustava ljudi i životinja. Izolacijom iz kvasca Saccharomyces cerevisiae zaostalog nakon proizvodnje piva, smanjuje se negativni utjecaj pivovara na okoliš, a β–glukan postaje visokovrijedna sirovina za mnoge farmaceutske, medicinske, kozmetičke, veterinarske i prehrambene pripravke. Svrha ovog diplomskog rada bila je izolacija homogenog, neaglomeriranog, mikročestičnog β–glukana. Kombinacijom tehnoloških postupaka ultrazvučne obrade i sušenja raspršivanjem dobivene su mikročestice dimenzija 1–2 μm za koje je u literaturi dokazano da imaju najbolju biološku aktivnost.β-glucan, a homopolymer of glucose, is well-known stimulator in human and animal immune system. That high valuable raw material, isolated from spent brewer's yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae, could become a good potential source for many pharmaceutical, medical, cosmetics, veterinary and food supplements. And at the same time the negative influence of breweries on environment could be diminished. β-glucan microparticles, in size of 1–2 μm, proved to have the highest biological activity, were obtained by successful usage of sonic and spray drying technological procedures