Visiting of the Angel Yeast
Since the project of SCU-China this year is related to the fermentation process of pasta by Saccharomyces cerevisiae, we have contacted the largest manufacturer of Saccharomyces cerevisiae for flour production in China---- Angel Yeast, which is also a well-known brand trusted by Chinese people. (Angel Yeast Co., Ltd.). We hope to learn about some innovations in yeast production safety and dry powder preparation from this leading Chinese company in this field. At the same time, through this valuable exchange activity, we can get their suggestions on the implementation and feasibility of our project.
On September 6, 2020, four members of SCU-China visited the Chengdu headquarters of Angel yeast Co., Ltd., which located in building 3, Block K, Qingyang Industrial Park, 188 Tengfei Avenue, Huangtianba, Qingyang District, Chengdu. Mr. Xingchi Liao, executive director of Chengdu headquarters, warmly received us. After introducing the development history and business scope of Angel yeast, he introduced us to Mr. Zhenhua Zhou, a technical staff, the sales engineer of Baking and Chinese Pasta Business Department, and Chengdu Sales Department.
Fig 1-2. Group photo with Angel Yeast
Through the communication with Mr. Zhou we learned that:
1.Baker's yeast is a food, not a food additive, so the safety standard adopted is Food Standard 2760. As a pioneer in the field of yeast in China, Angel Yeast has raised the yeast standard from an enterprise standard to a national standard, which is equivalent to that the yeast standard in China is formulated by Angel yeast.
2.The strains of Angel’s yeast used in food production are obtained by extensive selection and purification of naturally occurring yeast. The company has mature technology for preservation and transportation, which also is the main cost. It is very important to isolate and preserve the primary yeast when using the yeast as the product. For example, it is necessary to store the Yunshi yeast at -180℃.
3.Mr. Zhou also mentioned that yeast must meet the market demand before it is put into the market. At the beginning, Angel Yeast failed to introduce yeast products to China, because foreign yeast was mostly used in bread making, which did not meet the domestic dietary habits of steamed buns and other pasta. In recent years, Angel Yeast engaged in the research and commercialization of yeast leaching solution and the use of yeast in plant protection. This company also has set up its own special division to explore and respond to market needs more actively and extensively.
4.In terms of efficiency and cost, Mr. Zhou pointed out that it also depends on demand. There would be different yeast products for different user needs. Then he explained that yeast is living, and the product has a demand for yeast survival rate. That’s why the yeast industry is not like pharmaceuticals, of which the assembly line is fixed. However, yeast production can also reach the level of full automation, and more flexible adaptive adjustments will be made according to the type of yeast.
Fig 3-4. Discussion with the staff of Angel Yeast
We are very grateful to Angel Yeast for providing us with this opportunity to learn and practice. As the only winner of the National Science and Technology Progress Award in the yeast industry, their advice is very important and constructive to our project. During this exchange, we were given advice on yeast strain production, logistics, packaging, and strain preservation, which was useful for our project’s possible applications after the experiment. The technicians also explained to us the laws and regulations that yeast used in the food and industrial production need to comply within China, which gave us a deeper understanding of safety. In addition, the technical personnel also suggested that we can carry out experiments to compare the leavening efficiency of the laboratory yeast and the yeast products of Angel Yeast to see if there is any difference. This meeting also inspired us to pay attention to the market demand and acceptance of genetically modified yeast leavening. Since the company has not tried to carry out artificial genetic modification on yeast, they are looking forward to the innovation of our project.
Fig 5-6. Visit and study in Angel Yeast
Conclusion
Based on the above communication, we designed the validation experiments under the aseptic and natural conditions, to test the fermentation efficiency difference between Angel yeast and EGY48 Saccharomyces cerevisiae used in our project. At the same time, in the future, we will continue to keep in touch with Angel yeast to explore the possibility of combining synthetic biology with the transformation of Saccharomyces cerevisiae, so as to provide a new idea for the field of pasta fermentation in the world.