Effects of low-intensity ultrasound on the growth, cell membrane permeability and ethanol tolerance of Saccharomyces cerevisiae

•Biomass of S. cerevisiae in latent anaphase increased by 127.03% after sonication.•Membrane permeability of S. cerevisiae in latent anaphase enhanced by ultrasound.•Ethanol tolerance of S. cerevisiae was not affected significantly by ultrasound. Effects of low-intensity ultrasound (at different frequency, treatment time and power) on Saccharomyces cerevisiae in different growth phase were evaluated by the biomass in the paper. In addition, the cell membrane permeability and ethanol tolerance of sonicated Saccharomyces cerevisiae were also researched. The results revealed that the biomass of Saccharomyces cerevisiae increased by 127.03% under the optimum ultrasonic conditions such as frequency 28kHz, power 140W/L and ultrasonic time 1h when Saccharomyces cerevisiae cultured to the latent anaphase. And the membrane permeability of Saccharomyces cerevisiae in latent anaphase enhanced by ultrasound, resulting in the augment of extracellular protein, nucleic acid and fructose-1,6-diphosphate (FDP) contents. In addition, sonication could accelerate the damage of high concentration alcohol to Saccharomyces cerevisiae although the ethanol tolerance of Saccharomyces cerevisiae was not affected significantly by ultrasound.