Nutritional Composition of Yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae) Isolated from Selected Local Fruits

Abstract

Yeast, specifically Saccharomyces cerevisiae, is commonly used in the leavening of dough in bakeries and food industries. This study  aimed to isolate and identify S. cerevisiae from ten local fruits and analyze the proximate and nutritional composition of the yeast  isolates. Yeast was isolated from orange, mango, guava, apple, watermelon, sweet melon, pineapple, pawpaw, banana, and sugarcane  using morphological, biochemical and microscopic characteristics. The proximate analysis revealed significant variations in nutritional  composition. Watermelon exhibited the highest protein content at 73.47%, while pawpaw showed the lowest at 53.88%. Pawpaw also had  the highest carbohydrate content (25.51%) but the lowest moisture (7.66%) and ash (3.95%) levels. Comparatively, sugarcane had the highest moisture content at 15.06%, and banana had the highest ash content at 8.32%. The fat content across the fruits was relatively low,  with mango showing the highest value at 1.28%. These findings suggest that some local fruits are a potential source of indigenous  S. cerevisiae, which could serve as effective leavening agents in food production.