Selection of natural materials for Saccharomyces cerevisiae immobilization

The interest in cell immobilization for alcoholic beverage production has increased in the last decades due to the several advantages that this process presents, including reduced risk of contamination, iocatalyst recycling, rapid product separation and others. Moreover immobilized cells systems have been considered as a promising alternative to improve the performance of biotechnological processes, since in these systems, immobilized cells completely maintain their biological functions with increased stability that may often lead to increased cell productivity. However, the correct selection of immobilization carrier is essential to design an effective system to each particular purpose. The objective of the present study was to find a cheap and abundant natural material of food grade purity suitable for immobilization of Saccharomyces cerevisiae yeast, which is usually used in fermentation processes for wine production. Four different carriers were evaluated, namely grape seeds, grape skin, grape stems and corn cobs