PROCEDE ET APPAREIL POUR LA CULTURE A HAUTE CONCENTRATION DE LEVURES

a. Procédé et appareil pour la culture à haute concentration de levures. b. Le procédé consiste à retirer le bouillon de culture de manière continue ou discontinue d'un appareil de fermentation, à séparer les cellules de levure du bouillon à l'aide d'un séparateur de cellules, ou à les laver à l'eau, et à renvoyer les cellules de levure à l'appareil de fermentation, ce qui permet d'obtenir des levures avec une concentration des cellules comprise entre 6 % et 20 %, pourcentages basés sur le poids sec. c. Application : production de levures. The present invention is directed to a method and an apparatus of highly concentrated cultivation of yeasts wherein the broth is removed from a fermentor continuously or intermittently, then the yeast cells are separated from said broth using a cell separator, or further washed with water, thereafter said yeast cells are recirculated to the fermentor, whereby yeasts are cultivated in a high cell concentration of 6% or more, said cell concentration being the final cell concentration in a batch cultivation and the cell concentration in the culture broth in a continuous cultivation. Fig. 1 shows that miscellaneous micro-organisms are prevented from growing when the cell concentration is at least 6% based on dry weight. The apparatus may include a fermentor having a drafts-tube compartment for cell multiplying surmounted by a multistage perforated plates compartment tor cell maturing as depicted in Fig. 5.