In this work the effect of the total pressure and the oxygen concentration in the gas
phase on the growth and viability of Saccharomyces cerevisiae is studied. Cell viability
was measured staining with methylene blue and assessed using digital image
processing. A model that takes into account cell viability was developed and used for
the correlation of the measured data. A dependence of the death rate, KD, with the total
pressure and the oxygen concentration is proposed. Its behavior indicates that opposing
effects between oxygen availability and baric and oxidative stresses are present on the
system. It is shown that the proposed model can, with this extra parameter, successfully
describe not only the traditional X-P-S evolution but also the ratio of viable cells with
time.Brasil. Ministério da Educação. Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)Brasil. Ministério da Ciência e Tecnologia. Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)
