NEW ALCOHOL RESISTANT STRAINS OF SACCHAROMYCES-CEREVISIAE SPECIES FOR POTABLE ALCOHOL PRODUCTION USING MOLASSES

Two alcohol resistant strains of Saccharomyces cerevisiae species were isolated from a Greek vineyard plantation. The strain AXAZ-1 gave a concentration of 17.6% v/v alcohol and AXAZ-2 16.5%, when musts from raisin and sultana grapes, respectively, were employed in alcoholic fermentations. They were found to be more alcohol tolerant and fermentative in the fermentation of molasse than the traditional baker's yeast. Specifically, using an initial degrees-Be density of 16-degrees-Be at the repeated batch fermentation process, in the first as well as fourth batch, the better AXAZ-1 gave final degrees-Be densities of 6.0 and 10.5 respectively, and the baker's yeast 11.6 and 14.5.