Silica Wort Supplementation as an Alternative for Yeast Stress Relief on Corn Ethanol Production with Cell Recycling

Abstract

In very high gravity (VHG) fermentation, yeast cells are subjected to a multitude of challenging conditions, including the osmotic pressure exerted by the high sugar content of the wort and the stress factors associated with the high ethanol concentrations present at the end of the fermentation cycle. The response of this biological system to abiotic stresses may be enhanced through biochemical and physiological routes. Silica may play a significant role in regulating the cellular homeostasis of yeast. Alternatively, it is expected that this outcome may be achieved through biochemical responses from the effects of vitamins on yeast cells and the physiological yeast route changing by the culture medium aeration. The objective of this study was to investigate the effects of adding 500 mg L−1 of silica on corn ethanol wort medium and the possibility of supplementing the same wort with vitamins alongside aeration (0.2 v v−1 min−1) as an alternative resource to sustain the fermentation yield rather than adding silica in a fed-batch fermentation cycle with yeast recycling. Upon completion of the five fermentation cycles, yeast samples subjected to the treatment with the addition of silica exhibited a 3.1% higher fermentation yield in comparison to the results observed in the vitamins plus aeration medium bath. Even though greater biomass production (19.1 g L−1) was observed through aerobic yeast behavior in vitaminized supplemented corn medium, the provided silica had a more beneficial effect on yeast stress relief for very high gravity fermentation in a corn hydrolyzed wort with cell recycling.