New yeasts sought to produce more flavoursome light beers

Yeast is an important ingredient in the production of various food products such as wine, beer, cheese and sausage. In the past many different species of yeast were used in food production, in a process known as spontaneous fermentation. However, nowadays only a small number of strains are used.

This is despite the fact that yeasts can be found everywhere in nature; on humans, animals, fruit – anywhere they have access to sugar. In total there are around 1,000 identified strains, but at least 10,000 new strains are expected to be identified within the near future. Tens of species of yeast live on grapes alone.

In both the beer and wine industries, there is now a growing interest in making use of the variety of yeast strains. Different yeasts can give a different character to drinks and food products. “For example, there is a great interest in producing light beer with more flavour, and we hope that new yeast strains can contribute to this”, says Professor Jure Piskur from the Department of Biology at Lund University in Sweden.

Mr Piskur will coordinate the activities of the new consortium, called Cornucopia, which has received EUR 3.4 million from the EU. A total of 11 partners are involved in the consortium – both universities and companies. In addition to Lund University, researchers from Denmark, Belgium, Italy, Spain, the Czech Republic and the Netherlands are participating in the research.

Private sector partners include the Danish brewer Carlsberg. The project will start in January 2011 and run for four years.

For more information, you can contact Prof Jure Piskur, Department

of Biology, Lund University, email: .