Protecting Saccharomyces cerevisiae Cells with Nanozymes to Increase Alcohol Production

A method was proposed to enhance the growth of Saccharomyces cerevisiae cells and increase the alcohol yield. This strategy utilized nanozymes, specifically FeCo-Prussian blue analogue nanoparticles (FeCo-PBA NPs), FeCo-N-C, CoSO porous nanocubes (CoSO PNCs), and FeN3P-single-atom nanozymes (FeN3P-SAzyme), to mimic the antioxidant enzymes. When subjected to H2O2 stress, the nanozymes significantly stimulated cell growth and effectively reduced the levels of reactive oxygen species (ROS), as evidenced by the decrease in the malondialdehyde (MDA) content. Additionally, the decline in lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) activity within the fermentation environment suggested that nanozymes provided protection against cell membrane damage caused by H2O2. This protective effect can be attributed to their inhibitory impact on ROS production. Further results demonstrated that 50 μg mL–1 of nanozymes led to an increase in the ethanol yield and total alcohol yield in S. cerevisiae. This approach held great potential for enhancing alcohol production efficiency in the S. cerevisiae industrial fermentation process.