Characteristics and Diversity of Yeast in Locally Fermented Beverages Sold in Nigeria

ENGLISH/ANGLAIS] Affiliations: 1 Department of Biological Sciences, Microbiology unit, Fountain University, Osogbo, Osun State, NIGERIA 2 Department of Microbiology, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, Kaduna State, NIGERIA Address for Correspondence/ Adresse pour la Correspondance: [email protected] Accepted/Accepté: February, 2012 Citation: Jimoh SO, Ado SA, Ameh JB, Whong CMZ. Characteristics and Diversity of Yeast in Locally Fermented Beverages Sold in Nigeria World Journal of Engineering and Pure and Applied Sciences 2012;2(2):40-4. Yeasts play a central role in the fermentation of foods and beverages, mainly those with high carbohydrate content which can survive and grow under stress conditions. Fermented beverages (burukutu, pito and palmwine) were selected in order to characterize the indigenous yeast flora by API AUX 20C kit. The prevalence rate of different yeast strains isolated in the research shows that yeast varies in their morphological and physiological characteristics. The prevalence rate of the yeast strains with respect to their sources of isolation are; burukutu (39.29%), pito (33.93%) and palmwine (26.79%) respectively. The yeast strains isolated are Saccharomyces cerevisiae 1, Saccharomyces cerevisiae 2, Rhodotorula mucilaginosa 2, Candida colliculosa, Candida utilis, Candida magnolia, Rhodotorula mucilaginosa 1, Trichosporon asahii, Rhodotorula glutinis, Candida pelliculosa and Cryptococcus albidus