Heat resistance studies of yeasts; vegetative cells versus ascospores: erythromycin inhibition of sporulation in Kluyveromyces and Saccharomyces species

A comparative study of the heat resistance ( D ₆₀ values) of four Saccharomyces spp. and two Kluyveromyces spp. (21 strains) showed a 30–350-fold higher heat resistance of ascospores than of vegetative cells. It was also observed that small numbers of ascospores exhibiting a considerably higher heat resistance can easily be formed, even in a complete vegetative growth medium. This phenomenon may have led most other authors to report none or only slight differences between the heat resistance of yeast ascospores and their vegetative cells. Until more information has been collected about the ascospore load of acid (fruit) products and their heat resistance, accurate calculations of the minimum F values for heat preservation of these products may not be possible.