The Commercial and Community Significance of Yeasts in Food and Beverage Production

Abstract

The history of yeast association with human society is synonymous with the evolution\rof bread, beer and wine as global food and beverage commodities, originating some\r5,000 years ago. The microbial science of these products commenced in the mid-1600s\rwith the first observations of yeast cells being reported by Antonie van Leeuwenhoek\r(The Netherlands). The significance of these findings laid dormant until the classic\rstudies of Pasteur (France) and Hansen (Denmark) during 1850–1900, which heralded\rthe beginnings of the disciplines of microbiology and biochemistry. Subsequent studies\rby Guilliermond (France) and Kluyver (The Netherlands) in the early 1900s established\ryeasts as a unique group of microorganisms that had a major role in food and\rbeverage production (Rose and Harrison 1969; Rose 1977). Since the 1950s, several\rclassic texts have specifically highlighted the commercial and social significance of\ryeasts in foods and beverages (Cook 1958; Rose and Harrison 1970, 1993; Phaff et al.\r1978; Skinner et al. 1980; Spencer and Spencer 1990; Reed and Nagodawithana 1991;\rDeak and Beuchat 1996; Boekhout and Robert 2003).