Brewing Characteristics of Saccharomyces cerevisiae HKFR18 Isolated from Kiwi Fruits (Actinidia chinensis)

The purpose of this study is to separate and identify a new yeast strain and to evaluate its brewing characteristics in three different types of alcohol fermentation as compared with a commercial yeast strain, S. cerevisiae. The yeast isolated from kiwi fruits (Actinidia chinensis) was identified as Saccharomyces cerevisiae and named S. cerevisiae HKFR18. The brewing characteristics were not significantly different between S. cerevisiae HKFR18 and commercial S. cerevisiae for all types of fermentation. The lactic acid and citric acid content in S. cerevisiae HKFR18 was significantly higher than commercial S. cerevisiae for simultaneous two-step fermentation with Nuruk and independent two-step fermentation, respectively. The acetic acid content in S. cerevisiae HKFR18 was 1.3 times lower than that in commercial S. cerevisiae for single-step fermentation. In S. cerevisiae HKFR18 and commercial S. cerevisiae, benzene ethanol, and 3-methyl-1-butanol were the major aromatic compounds for two-step fermentation, while benzene ethanol and isobutyl alcohol were the major aromatic compounds for single-step fermentation. These results suggest that the domestic S. cerevisiae HKFR18 from kiwi fruits can be a good alternative for commercial S. cerevisiae strains for various types of alcohol fermentation.