Intracellular pH of yeast during brewery fermentation

Abstract

The intracellular pH value of Saccharomyces cerevisiae NCYC 1681 was measured using radiolabelled [14C]‐propionic acid. Errors, due to the binding of radioactive material to trub, were eliminated using silicone oil centrifugation. Replication of analyses reduced the variations associated with low cell counts during fermentation. Whilst fermenting brewer's wort, yeast intracellular pH values were maintained within a narrow range (5.9–6.4). Cellular ATP concentrations were highly conserved in spite of the fact that the cells were exposed to an increasing concentration of ethanol as the fermentation progressed.