What is Yeast?

Yeast is actually an organism and it is a single cell organism. Yeast needs moister, food to survive. The baking or brewing yeast is also known as Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

Yeast belongs to the fungi kingdom and are only visible under microscope.

Yeasts love sugar based foods like sucrose,fructose,glucose and maltose.

When we mix yeast in bakeries dough. Yeast start eating sugar present in that dough and during this process they release carbon dioxide gas which can not escape from the dough because dough is elastic and stretchable.  Due to this process dough inflates or rises in size.

WHY YEAST IS USED TO MAKE WINE AND BEER

For wine and beer making Saccharomyces pastorianus fungus (yeast) is used. This yeast converts glucose into alcohol and CO2.

Yeast + Glucose -> Alcohol (Ethanol) + CO2

Yeast break glucose molecules anaerobically through the process called fermentation.

Yeast mostly feeds on sugar to produce alcohol (ethanol) and carbon dioxide.

There are more than 500 species of yeast.

Bread dough is made by mixing yeast with flour, water, sugar, salt and milk and leaving it for fermentation for 5-6 hours. Once yeast starts eating the sugar, dough will double in it’s size.

There is a yeast called candida, which lives inside our body and if it grows out of control then we will need medical help.