Cryoprotective effect of silver carp muscle hydrolysate on baker's yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae and its underlying mechanism

Abstract Cryoprotective effect of silver carp muscle hydrolysate (SCMH) on baker's yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae) was examined by analyzing the growth and survival of the yeast during freeze–thaw cycles, and the physicochemical properties [ultrastructure, intracellular proteins and fatty acids, external ice formation (EIF) and internal ice formation (IIF), freezable water content] of yeast cells with or without SCMH through transmission electron microscopy, SDS‐PAGE, GC‐MS, and differential scanning calorimetry. The 4% of SCMH treatment exhibited good yeast cryoprotective activity and increased the yeast survival rate from 0.71% to 90.95% after 1 freeze–thaw cycle as compared to the control. The results demonstrated that the addition of SCMH could attenuate the freeze damage of yeast cells, prevent the degradation or loss of soluble proteins, and increase the composition and absolute content of fatty acids. Besides, the addition of 4% SCMH caused a drop in the EIF peak temperature (from −17.95℃ to −25.14℃) and a decrease in the IIF and freezable water content of yeast cells.