Today we use yeast in the elaboration of a multitude of products, many of them as common and habitual as bread and beer. However, despite the great use we give, a great unknown is still partly. Did you know that it is a microorganism and not an inert being?
If you want to learn more about What are yeasts, their types and examplesaccompany us in this interesting ecology article in which we respond to all this and more.
What are yeasts
As we have just said, yeasts are not a derivative of other biological products or a mineral ingredient: Yeasts are microscopic fungiusually unicellular. Although the appearance of fungi in our food products generally makes us think that it is not good, it is not the case with yeasts, which are being used controlled thousands of years. The yeast or ferment It is so important and useful for us for its ability to decompose sugars and carbohydrates in a process known as fermentation. There are two Types of fermentationsand in them the resulting by -products change:
- In the alcoholic fermentationwhich occurs only in anaerobic conditions, that is, in the absence of oxygen, yeast breaks down sugars in ATP, which is the energy it needs, in addition to CO2 and alcohol as undone products.
- In the lactic fermentationwhich is also given in anaerobic way, lactate occurs as a product of undone and lower energy is achieved. This process sometimes occurs as one of the last ways of obtaining energy in muscle tissue, and is also the usual in the elaboration of many dairy derivatives.
Thus, by setting an example, when the yeast causes alcoholic fermentation in, for example, a mass of bread, the CO2 forms gas bubbles that make the dough win size, which also helps the alcohol produced, which evaporates.
Types of yeasts
Regularly and referring to what is available to everyone, there are four large types of yeast that are commonly used. At the laboratory level, many more are handled, but when we talk mainly about cooking and what can be acquired on any large surface, these are the main types of yeasts:
Natural yeast
It is the so -called “mother mass” usually used in the elaboration of artisanal bread. It is left at rest next to a piece of bread dough, in which it grows and develops, before adding it to the rest.
Fresh or pressed yeast
It is called fresh yeast, mainly, because its conservation must be made in a cold environment, such as the refrigerator, between 4 ºC and 6 ºC. It comes in paste or pressed dough blocks and is formed by the unicellular fungus Saccharomeces cerevisiae. Before using it, it is necessary to dilute it in water for proper functioning.
Dry yeast
In the middle of World War II, Fleischmann developed a type of active and dry yeast to which he gave his name. This yeast, dehydrated and in granules, did not need to be cold and its useful life was much longer than that of fresh yeast. From the month that lasts the fresh, the dry yeast extends the period to more than a year. In addition to all this, dry yeast rises or rises twice as quickly as it is used in bakery.
Chemical yeast
This is not properly yeast, but it is called that because it is an emulsifying chemical capable of replicating the effect of yeast. These are products such as bicarbonate, which react to the heat of the baking and artificially reproduce the rise effect of yeast. Chemical yeast only acts once in the oven and does not ferment the dough before.
Examples of yeasts
There are a lot of yeast species. Some are used in the food industry regularly, while others are more common to find in nature. These are some Examples of yeasts:
- Schizosaccharomyces
- Saccharomyces
- Kluyveromyces
- Zygosaccharomyces
- Pichia
- Debaromyces
What are the yeasts for – uses
It is known that the human being has been using yeasts for thousands of years, since the ancient Egyptians began using them in the Bread and beer elaboration. It is believed that its discovery should have been made by chance, for example, by leaving a mass exposed for a longer time before the baking, and the yeast present naturally in the flour performed the fermentation. Currently, yeast is used in the elaboration of all types of products of Bakery and pastryas well as in the production of Fermented alcoholic beveragessuch as wine and beer.
This is, a key factor in the history of human food, present in many of our basic products. As if this were not enough, yeast is a Probiotic food First order, and its consumption offers a lot of benefits in the agency.
If you want to learn more about fungi, such as yeasts, we recommend this other ecology article about the Fungi Kingdom: what is, characteristics, classification and examples.
If you want to read more articles similar to Yeasts: What are, types and exampleswe recommend that you enter our biology category.
