Waste Brewery and Winery Yeast as a Raw Material for Biotechnological Productions

Abstract

Yeast of the genus Saccharomyces is the most commonly used organism in the production of biotechnological products, and its amount produced in the production of beer and wine is enormous. It is reported that the worldwide annual production of both beverages entails the production of more than half a million tons of yeast, calculated on dry matter, the largest production of any microorganism worldwide. For this reason, it could be used as a potential secondary raw material. In the following review, we focus on the use of waste yeast biomass, particularly in terms of its processing into biofuels, especially biodiesel. Particular attention is also paid to the use of yeast as a source of sophisticated products, especially squalene and palmitoleic acid, an important raw material that can be used as a biodiesel additive, but also in cosmetic and dietetic products.