In recent years, beverage manufacturers have ramped up efforts to reduce sugar in their formulations. Angel Yeast is one company focusing on the reduction of sugar through yeast extraction and processing. Yuan Qi and Xiong Jian, deputy directors of Angel Yeast’s Protein Nutrition and Flavoring Technology Center, tell us more.

As consumer demand for healthy products continues to grow, beverages with reduced-sugar formulations are hitting a sweet spot with consumers. As a result, ingredient manufacturers have been experimenting with a range of sugar reduction mechanisms.

Yeast extract has proven itself in the field of sugar reduction. It is rich in amino acids, peptides and other flavour components, and is 100% natural. It can directly improve the sweetness of reduced-sugar products and enrich the overall flavour. At the same time, it can be used in combination with sweeteners to mask their odour.

With the development of modern fermentation technology, the applications of enzymes are now more diversified. Through our partnerships with universities in China, we were able to use directed enzymatic hydrolysis technology combined with biofilm filtration to prepare the yeast extract and reduce sugar levels in beverages.

Functional formats

In the functional beverages category, yeast extract products with a high nutrient content were first selected through strain mutagenesis and high throughput screening, and then the fermentation process was optimised.

A combination of heat extraction and protease enzymatic hydrolysis technology helped to enrich certain nutrient elements in yeast extract products.

Yeast is a high-quality microbial protein resource. The complex enzymatic hydrolysis technology is used to extract proteins from yeast. Process conditions such as temperature and time are limited, so that the endogenous and exogenous enzymes of yeast can play a role at the same time, accurately control the restriction enzyme cutting site, and improve the protein extraction rate.

At the same time, with the use of centrifugal separation equipment, the yeast protein products were further purified to achieve efficient extraction of yeast proteins. In the current food and beverage landscape, yeast protein products with high nutritional content have a proven protein substitution function.

Protein power

In the field of high-protein beverages, a series of yeast products with up to 85% protein content have been developed.

The application of yeast protein in beverages can be beset by solubility and sedimentation issues – the main reason being the instability of the protein macromolecular system.

To fix this, the yeast protein is modified through a homogenisation process and high-pressure enzyme modification combined technology, which destroys the microscopic particle aggregation state of yeast protein, makes it disperse into smaller particles, improves the dispersion stability of yeast protein, improves the gel characteristics, and finally realises the stability of the protein system, and improves the taste of yeast protein and its processing applicability.

Source: Foodbev Issue 66, April 2023

This exclusive interview was published in Foodbev.