Potentials of Saccharomyces cerevisiae Y10 as a Starter Culture for Wine Production from Date Palm (Phoenix dactylifera) Fruits

A considerable quantity of agricultural produce in Nigeria gets spoilt due to lack of storage facilities and poor storage conditions. An example of such agricultural produce is date palm which is readily available in the northern parts of Nigeria. This study aimed at evaluating the potential of Saccharomyces cerevisiae Y10 isolated from decomposed sugarcane bagasse to produce wine using date palm fruits. The yeast was isolated using yeast extract peptone dextrose agar and was identified by molecular methods. Fermentation of date palm fruit juice was carried out anaerobically for 20 days during which physicochemical parameters and proximate composition were determined using standard methods. The yeast was identified as Saccharomyces cerevisiae Y10 with accession number MG321589. Analysis of physicochemical properties showed that pH dropped from 5.4 to 3.6, titratable acidity increased from 0.25 to 0.71% and specific gravity decreased from 1.1 to 1.01. Proximate composition of produced wine gave low total reducing sugar and low protein of 0.11 and 0.44% respectively and the final alcohol content was 10.4% at the 20th day of fermentation. This study has shown that Saccharomyces cerevisiae Y10 which was isolated from decaying sugarcane bagasse sample has the potential to be used as starter culture for fermentation of date palm for wine production. Keywords: Date palm, Saccharomyces cerevisiae Y10, wine, yeast, alcoholic fermentation