Calorimetry of Whole Yeast Cells

Microcalorimetry provides a quick and accurate nonspecific technique for the direct measurement of metabolic activity of biological cells either under growth or nongrowth conditions. The method has added advantages such as good reproducibility, no requirement for optically transparent media, and ease of relating results to biomass or metabolic rate. Two applications that relate to the use of flow calorimetry will be discussed, but with certain modifications batch-type calorimetry can be used (1 ).