Bioprospecção de levedura para produção de hidromel

Abstract

The aim of this paper is the bioprospecting of yeast from honey samples produced by Melipona mandacaia bees in order to analyze favorable characteristics for mead fermentation and comparing its efficiency to commercially available yeasts. Prompted by the fact that commercially available options of yeast for mead production are limited in Brazil. Yeast is used in the manufacture of alcoholic beverages and bread, originated from plants, fruits, leaves and flowers. A colony was isolated and grown in a favorable environment for this type of microorganism, subsequent biochemical tests were performed comparing morphology, biomass production, alcohol production and substrate consumption, all crucial factors for the production of mead. With these tests, the isolated yeast had a fermentation efficiency of 90%, higher than the 84% of standard commercial yeast, however, this isolated yeast was not catalogued in this paper due to the necessary genetic tests and comparison to specific databases to do so. Since the production of mead is not a widely explored market in Brazil, the aim of this paper is bioprospecting yeast with favorable characteristics for the production of mead and to aid studies on the subject in the future.