Future Yeast Products.

The Future of the Wild Yeast Zoo could boast a multitude of possibilities for what the collected yeast samples may be used. Our very first project will be in collaboration with Rogue Scholar Brewing, where specific wild yeast samples will be used to brew a brand-new beer for sale at the brewery in Newcastle. But yeast is a multi-faceted tool that can be used in a variety of different ways. So, what’s next?  Below is a brief explainer of some of the uses of wild yeast, and how your bioprospecting could contribute to these things being done in industry-level production.

Sourdough Starters

The COVID lockdowns and isolation periods were the catalyst for a meteoric rise in popularity for home-baking, and a particular interest was found by people in the baking of sourdough bread. A brief explainer for those who missed the memo is that sourdough starter is a culmination of wild yeast and good bacteria created by fermenting water and flour. This process creates a much richer and more flavour-dense product than typical baker’s yeast breads. Wild yeast samples found in native Australian landscapes could harness the potential to be used as sourdough starters and develop a new and unique flavour.

Hybridisation

Yeasts are essentially large micro-organisms that are living, breathing forms of fungi. As such, they can change, grow, and mutate the same way that any other living organism does. Therefore, as many have done beforehand, we are presented with the opportunity to combine wild yeasts found by your searching to create a brand-new species with compatible yeasts. This is likely a long-term goal of the project, but one that you as a participant could contribute to just by getting out and about with your probe kit.

Cheese and Dairy

The uses of Wild Yeast have little to no limitations when it comes to wholesale production of food and drink products, yeasts have been used for a long time in the production of cheese, wine, beer and bread. In the production of cheese, the fermentation process eats the present lactose and produces crucial acids, instead of usual fermentation where sugar is consumed in the presence of oxygen. These are just a few of the potential uses of wild yeasts collected by Wild Yeast Zoo participants, and you could contribute to the creation of some delicious foods.