Physical, functional and structural characterization of the cell wall fractions from baker's yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

The yeast cell wall of Saccharomyces cerevisiae is an important source of β-d-glucan, a glucose homopolymer with many functional, nutritional and human health benefits. In the present study, the yeast cell wall fractionation process involving enzymatic treatments (savinase and lipolase enzymes) affected most of the physical and functional characteristics of extracted fractions. Thus, the fractionation process showed that β-d-glucan fraction F4 had significantly higher swelling power and fat binding capacity compared to other fractions (F1, F2 and F3). It also exhibited a viscosity of 652.12mPas and a high degree of brightness of extracted β-d-glucan fraction. Moreover, the fractionation process seemed to have an effect on structural and thermal properties of extracted fractions. Overall, results showed that yeast β-d-glucan had good potential for use as a prebiotic ingredient in food, as well as medicinal and pharmaceutical products.