Large-scale screening of yeast strains that can utilize proline

Proline contributes to the taste and flavor of foods. The yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae poorly assimilates proline during fermentation processes, resulting in the accumulation of proline in fermentative products. We performed here a screening of in total 1138 yeasts to obtain strains that better utilize proline. Our results suggest that proline utilization occurs in the genera of Zygoascus, Galactomyces, and Magnusiomyces.