| Summary: | Saccharomyces cerevisiae has been widely applied in the production of both industrial and indigenous/or local alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages and includes wines, whiskies, gins, and distinct beers. In both small-scale and large-scale industrial production processes, the yeast used is a domesticated version of the organism. The production processes involving domesticated or undomesticated yeast notwithstanding, is one of the most amazing discoveries around the world. Africa, in general, and West Africa in particular have contributed to this amazing discovery involving the application of its local yeast in the food and beverage industry. In the continents of Asia, Europe, and America, the use of yeast strains for both small-scale and large-scale production processes is well documented and most of the yeasts used in major industrial processes originate from the continents of Asia, Europe, and America. Adequate information or documentation on the use of yeast originating and/or traced back to Africa for industrial production application is very scant as such remains an untapped market requiring extensive investigation. This review highlights the potential of yeast strains from West Africa and the diverse properties they possess for consideration of their use to improve the biotechnology industrial applications.
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