Yeasts from a traditional ferment Rabil: Molecular and physiological characterization

“Rabilé” is a popular traditional ferment in Burkina Faso, consisting mainly of yeasts. It is used as a food supplement or additive like Single Cell Protein (SCP). The present work focused on identifying yeast microbiota in local food, and studying their growth kinetic parameters. “Rabilé” sampling from the 13 regions of Burkina Faso was used to isolate yeast strains. Molecular methods, including PCR-RFLP, Sanger Sequencing, and Single Locus Analysis, were applied for strain identification. The kinetic parameters were determined in batch culture. The results show 390 isolates belonging to 12 species with a predominance of Saccharomyces cerevisiae, followed by Cutaneotrichosporon curvatus. Among the selected strains, S. cerevisiae OG22 and Kluyveromyces marxianus KY01 showed the highest maximum growth rate (0.566 and 0.568 h-1) concerning kinetic parameters. These results demonstrate that “Rabilé” is an important biotope of yeast strains, and could be a potential food supplement.