I sprinkle yeast flakes on anything that is savoury and have often wondered how it is manufactured.
'''Those flavours are a result of how nutritional yeast is made: A living strain of saccharomyces cerevisiae yeast—which is also commonly found in bread and beer—is fed a glucose-rich carbohydrate, like corn dextrose or beet molasses, inside fermentation chambers. This process cultivates the yeast, letting it grow, cell by cell, by forming proteins that make up its cell walls.
Yeast geneticist Sudeep Agarwala, who’s a program director and biological engineer at Ginkgo Bioworks, explains, "We know how to control the yeast breathing, so inside of fermentation containers, it's like a yeast yoga class. They're all inhaling and all exhaling at the same time."
Once the yeast matures, which can take up to two weeks depending on the amount of yeast and other factors, it’s heated, pasteurised, and dried, which kills it. (Eating active yeast results in dietary distress!) As its cells die, the proteins that made up its cells break down and amino acids like glutamic acid, which is naturally found in many fruits and vegetables, are released. It's this glutamate that gives nutritional yeast its cheese-like umami flavor. (Nutritional yeast has no added monosodium glutamate or salt.)''
Nutritional Yeast: What It Is, How It’s Made, and How to Use It
'''Those flavours are a result of how nutritional yeast is made: A living strain of saccharomyces cerevisiae yeast—which is also commonly found in bread and beer—is fed a glucose-rich carbohydrate, like corn dextrose or beet molasses, inside fermentation chambers. This process cultivates the yeast, letting it grow, cell by cell, by forming proteins that make up its cell walls.
Yeast geneticist Sudeep Agarwala, who’s a program director and biological engineer at Ginkgo Bioworks, explains, "We know how to control the yeast breathing, so inside of fermentation containers, it's like a yeast yoga class. They're all inhaling and all exhaling at the same time."
Once the yeast matures, which can take up to two weeks depending on the amount of yeast and other factors, it’s heated, pasteurised, and dried, which kills it. (Eating active yeast results in dietary distress!) As its cells die, the proteins that made up its cells break down and amino acids like glutamic acid, which is naturally found in many fruits and vegetables, are released. It's this glutamate that gives nutritional yeast its cheese-like umami flavor. (Nutritional yeast has no added monosodium glutamate or salt.)''
Nutritional Yeast: What It Is, How It’s Made, and How to Use It