Effect of wheat gluten protein hydrolysates on the propagation and fermentation performance of brewer's yeast

Effect of wheat gluten protein hydrolysates treated with pancreatin on propagation and fermentation performance of brewer's yeast were studied.Results showed that wheat gluten protein hydrolysates with different degree of hydrolysis (DH) varied in propagation and fermentation-promoting activity for yeast strains.Hydrolysates with DH of 13.96% showed the highest propagation-promoting activity and could promote yeast fermentation significantly.Supplement of wheat gluten protein hydrolysates with DH of 13.96% during fermentation resulted in the increases of biomass, fermentation degree, ethanol yield and the utilization rate of free amino nitrogen by 37.0%, 8.8%, 6.4% and 13.0%, respectively.Moreover, the fermentation time was reduced significantly by 14.3%.