MITOCHONDRIAL RELEVANCE TO YEAST FERMENTATIVE PERFORMANCE - A REVIEW

It is well known that dissolved oxygen fulfils critical roles in brewi ng yeast physiology and overall fermentative performance. The major an d minor roles that have been identified are briefly discussed and anot her role, that of providing for minimal mitochondrial development and functionality, is suggested. The long accepted theory that mitochondri a are irrelevant to fermentative performance is reviewed as to its bas is and the evidence in support of it. However. minimal mitochondrial d evelopment is required to provide the cell with critical metabolic int ermediates and components. These are identified and reviewed and final ly, evidence is presented that mitochondria are critical to brewing ye ast fermentative performance. The review concludes that when assessing the role of mitochondria, concern should be broader than simply for t he energetic function of these organelles.