National Institute of Biological Resources (NIBR) under the Ministry
of Environment announced that it found indigenous yeast that makes more
flavorful beers from Korea's wild leaven last November and applied for a
patent recently.
The
recently discovered indigenous yeast is expected to replace imported
yeasts for beer brewing. Though beer accounts for over 50 percent of the
total alcohol consumption in Korea, most of the yeasts used for brewing
domestic beers are imported from abroad.
NIBR
conducted joint research with Prof. Kim Kye-won of Hankyong National
University and Prof. Park Chun-seok of Kyunghee University last year.
The research team separated 23 strains of the yeast from traditional
leaven, and found a strain of yeast that can make beers with rich flavor
and aroma among distinctive yeast strains.
The yeast is
Saccharomyces cerevisiae, which is a type of yeasts widely used for
brewing beer, and it was separated from traditional leaven collected for
brewing in Samcheok-si, Gangwon-do.
According to genetic
analysis, the newly found strain belongs to Saccharomyces cerevisiae,
but it is a new strain (S. cerevisiae NIBRFGC000498868) with partially
different gene structure.
The research team also found that
the strain can mass-produce compounds that make fruit flavors such as
banana, apple and fruit as well as caramel flavors, up to 859% compared
to existing yeasts.
NIBR looks forward that the yeast can
help make flavorful beers as well as secure Korea’s brewing right in
preparation for the Nagoya Protocol.
Baek Woonsuk, president
of NIBR, commented that "we will promote technology transfer to
companies who want to brew beers with Korea's indigenous yeast." "By
doing so, we hope to change the prevailing mindset that only imported
biological resources would work, and encourage the utilization of native
biological resources in wide-ranging areas," he added.