Simplified techniques for identifying foodborne yeasts

Abstract

Four problematic areas associated with the identification of foodborne yeasts are discussed. These consist of (1) the inability of conventional identification tests to recognize some common and important foodborne yeasts characterized by genomic differences (e.g., Saccharomyces cerevisiae, S. bayanus and S. pastorianus); (2) the delay in application of non-traditional identification methods such as DNA fingerprinting, chromosome karyotyping, protein electrophoretic patterns and fatty acid profiles for routine identification purposes; (3) the lack of commercially available manual or automated identification systems dedicated to the diagnosis of foodborne yeasts; and (4) the disregard for considering ecological frequency of yeasts in computerized probabilistic identification systems.