Saccharomyces cerevisiae viability is strongly dependant on rehydration kinetics and the temperature of dried cells

Abstract

The effects of rehydration kinetics and temperature on the viability of Saccharomyces cerevisiae dehydrated by drying were studied. During rehydration, a water activity range of 0.117-0.455 must be crossed slowly in order to maintain cell viability. If this range is crossed rapidly, cell viability can be preserved if rehydration takes place at 50 °C. Several hypotheses have been proposed to explain previous results. One hypothesis, which relates cell mortality after rapid rehydration to water flow through the membrane in phase transition, is the more plausible and requires further investigation.