A multiparametric microsensor platform for yeast growth monitoring

Throughout history, yeast has proved of undisputed relevance to mankind since it has always been involved in the production of major fermentable products such as wine, beer and bread. In particular, since ethanol is a parameter of considerable economic value for breweries, wine and biofuel industries, significant research is involved in ethanol tolerance testing of different yeast strains. Alcohol toxicity, in fact, inhibits cell growth and adversely affects the fermentation process by stopping further ethanol production [1]. Therefore, several studies currently concern wine yeast strains selection in order to check their survival and ability to carry out difficult fermentation processes with high alcohol concentrations [2]. In the effort to develop and select efficient yeast strains as industrial biocatalysts, we propose a multiparametric sensor for yeast growth monitoring. It consists of one Ion-Sensitive FET (ISFET), an impedance sensor and a diode, to monitor the extracellular acidification (pH), biomass, and temperature respectively.