Alcoholic Fermentation: Second Edition, 1914Harden, Arthur
Science
Alcoholic Fermentation: Second Edition, 1914
Harden, Arthur
Fermentation
As the grinding proceeds the light-coloured powder gradually darkens
and becomes brown, and the mass becomes moist and adheres to the
pestle, until finally, after two to three minutes' grinding, it takes
the consistency of dough, at which stage the process is stopped. The
mass is next enveloped in a press cloth and submitted to a pressure
of 90 kilos, per sq. cm. in a hydraulic hand press, the pressure
being very gradually raised in order to avoid rupture of the cloth.
The cloth required for 1000 grams of yeast measures 60 by 75 cm. and
is previously soaked in water and then submitted to a pressure of 50
kilos, per sq. cm., retaining about 35 to 40 c.c. of water.
The juice runs from the press on to a folded filter paper, to remove
kieselguhr and yeast cells, and passes into a vessel standing in ice
water.
The yield of juice obtained by Buchner in an operation of this kind
from 1 kilo. of yeast amounts to 320 to 460 c.c. It may be increased
by re-grinding the press cake and again submitting it to pressure, and
then amounts on the average to 450 to 500 c.c.
Since the cell membranes constitute about 20 per cent. of the weight
of the dry yeast, this yield corresponds to more than 60 per cent.
of the total cell contents of the yeast. It has been computed by
Will [quoted by Buchner, E. and H., and Hahn, 1903, p. 66] that
[p023] only about 20 per cent. of the cells are left unaltered by one
grinding and pressing, and only 4 per cent. after a repetition of the
process, at least 57 per cent. of the cells being actually ruptured by
the double process, and the remainder to some extent altered. It seems
probable from these figures that a certain amount of the juice may be
derived from the unbroken cells, and Will expressly states that many
unbroken cells have lost their vacuoles.
[Illustration: FIG. 2. (Hydraulic Hand Press--Ed.)]
If the yeast be submitted to a process of regeneration, which consists
in exposure to a well-aerated solution of sugar and mineral salts
until fermentation is complete, the juice subsequently obtained
[p024] is more active than that yielded by the original yeast
[Albert, 1899, 1].
A modified method of grinding yeast was introduced by Macfadyen,
Morris, and Rowland [1900], who placed a mixture of yeast and sand
in a jacketed and cooled vessel, in which a spindle carrying brass
flanges was rapidly rotated [Rowland, 1901]. One kilo. of yeast ground
in this way for 3·5 hours yielded 350 c.c. of juice.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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