Material balance and energy consumption in the factory-scale coproduction of glucan and mannan from yeast extract residue

Abstract

The coproduction of glucan and mannan from yeast extract residue was examined by clarifying the material balance and energy consumption at the factory scale. As final products, yeast glucan and yeast mannan with purities of 46.2% and 50.9% were obtained at 92.6% and 65.9% yields, respectively. This result demonstrated that glucan and mannan can be produced simultaneously using the existing equipment at the yeast extract factory. Losses of glucan and mannan were mainly generated in the separation process at 5.4% and 29.1%, respectively. The energy in the total process per ton of raw material (yeast extract residue) containing 85.0% water by weight required 122 kWh of electricity, 1.54 t of steam (0.68 MPa, 174.5 °C), and 11.0 kg of liquid natural gas. The material balance revealed a quantitative relationship between purity and yield in the coproduction that will help optimize yeast-derived glucan and mannan production in the future.