Speaker
Description
Yeasts play a key role in fermentation processes widely used in industrial biotechnology. During fermentation, yeasts produce ethanol and a wide range of metabolites, including aroma compounds. Among the factors controlling the process, nitrogen availability strongly influences yeast growth, metabolic activity, and metabolite production. Understanding how nitrogen metabolism affects fermentation dynamics is therefore essential for improving process control and performance.
In this study, we present a kinetic mathematical model for yeast batch fermentation that captures the uptake dynamics of sugars and organic (e.g. amino acids) and inorganic (e.g. ammonium) nitrogen sources, while accounting for supplementation strategies. The model describes how nitrogen availability and specific nitrogen sources influence yeast metabolism, including how nitrogen is allocated between biomass growth and maintenance, and metabolite production such as aroma compounds. It also accounts for regulatory mechanisms underlying phase transitions in yeast growth.
The model was applied to several yeast strains to analyse the impact of nitrogen and carbon sources on fermentation dynamics. The results reveal how different nitrogen sources influence fermentation behaviour and metabolite production across strains. These findings illustrate the potential of the proposed modelling framework to support the analysis and optimisation of fermentation processes.
