FermBase launches standardized trace element blend after 3,300 yeast fermentation trials

FermBase by CREMER has launched Y-Base Blend, a standardized trace element formulation for yeast fermentation developed through 3,300 experiments and designed to reduce the complexity of formulating, sourcing and dosing individual mineral salts.

The Hamburg-based company said the blend was tested with selected fermentation partners ahead of launch, delivering comparable performance across all cases and outperforming customers’ own in-house blends in more than half of those examined.

• FermBase developed Y-Base Blend from 3,300 experiments involving different yeast strains, following an initial assessment of more than 50,000 potential trace element combinations.
• Early-access testing across different fermentation processes found comparable performance in every case, with the standardized formulation outperforming customers’ in-house blends in more than half.
• The same formulation is available from 1kg laboratory quantities through 25kg scale-up units to industrial volumes, with specifications remaining consistent across every size.

Although trace elements are required only in small quantities during fermentation, their concentrations can influence microbial growth and process stability. FermBase said conversations with fermentation companies showed that many were addressing similar nutritional requirements while continuing to formulate their own trace element solutions.

That can mean separately sourcing, storing, weighing and dosing several salts, while creating additional considerations around reproducibility, procurement and transferring a process between scales.

“With our Y-Base Blend, we help yeast fermentation companies significantly simplify a complex and error-prone part of their processes,” said Dr. Gerlis von Haugwitz, Product Manager at CREMER. “Instead of sourcing, storing, weighing and dosing several individual salts separately, our customers receive an optimized, standardized and readily soluble trace element blend that can be used from laboratory scale through to industrial production.”

Development began with more than 50,000 possible trace element combinations. FermBase narrowed these to 3,300 experiments using different yeast strains before identifying nine high-performing formulations at microliter scale. Further evaluation ultimately produced the formulation selected for bioreactor use.

The development work was conducted with Munich-based Differential Bio, a biotechnology startup spun out of the Technical University of Munich environment. The company contributes automated fermentation experimentation and data-driven evaluation using machine-learning methods.

FermBase also moved beyond small-scale screening by putting the formulation into customer bioreactor processes during its early-access program.

“For us, it was particularly important not only to develop Y-Base Blend under laboratory conditions, but also to validate it in customer processes using bioreactors,” von Haugwitz said. “The fact that our standardized blend often performed even better than individually developed in-house blends confirms our approach.”

The company has not disclosed the participating customers or individual process results, but said trials covered a variety of fermentation processes and products.

Y-Base Blend has also been developed with scale-up in mind. Companies can initially purchase quantities from 1kg for laboratory testing, moving to 25kg units for pilot and scale-up work. FermBase said it can supply several tons for industrial production worldwide without changing the product's composition or specification.

The initial formulation is intended for companies using yeast to manufacture functional ingredients for food, feed and cosmetics, as well as technical applications.

Y-Base Blend also marks the beginning of a new standardized blends product group for FermBase, whose existing portfolio includes carbon and nitrogen sources, mineral salts, trace elements and customized fermentation-media solutions.

The CREMER brand is drawing on the wider group's raw-material sourcing, processing and international logistics operations as it seeks to supply fermentation companies from pilot development through commercial production.

Y-Base Blend is available immediately, with samples and product information available from FermBase.

FermBase by CREMER will also exhibit at The Future of Protein Production Amsterdam, taking place at RAI Amsterdam on 4-5 November 2026, where von Haugwitz will be among the speakers addressing the industry.

(Main photo: FermBase supplies fermentation media components from laboratory and pilot quantities through to industrial-scale volumes)

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