Flocculation of Saccharomyces cerevisiae

This paper reviews our current understanding of cell flocculation with particular emphasis of the process in brewing fermentations. While cell flocculation has been examined for over a century and has been the subject to a number of reviews in the early part of this decade, our view of the process is cloudy. Flocculation is affected by cell genetic behavior, cell age as well as the chemical and physical nature of the surrounding medium. Recently, a number of advances in our understanding of the genes governing the process have occurred. In conjunction with these genetic advances, new assay methods have also been developed. This review will discuss and update our current knowledge of cell flocculation and its use in brewing fermentations. (C) 1999 Canadian Institute of Food Science and Technology. Published by Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.