Isolation and characterization of potential probiotic yeasts from Ethiopian injera sourdough

This study aimed to isolate and characterize potential probiotic yeasts from Ethiopian injera sourdough and the study was conducted by collecting samples from Gondar and Bahir Dar cities, Ethiopia. The potential yeasts were isolated and identified using morphological, physiological, biochemical and molecular based analysis. Promising isolates were selected to further investigate their in vitro probiotic properties, including survival at different temperatures (25, 30, 37, and 42 °C), acidic pH (2, 3, 4 and 5), bile salt (0.1, 0.3, and 0.5%), and osmotolerance (20, 30, 40, and 50% glucose concentration), antimicrobial activities, proteolytic and lipolytic activities as well as resistance to four antibiotics. From 20 samples, 38 isolates were obtained. Among these, 10 produced low or non-hydrogen sulfide and were selected for further work. Further screening tests revealed that five isolates (G1N1, G2N4, G3N1, G8N1, and B6N3) were able tolerate and grow at 37 °C, with harsh conditions of the human digestive tract like low pH, bile salt, and higher osmotic effect. The maximum growth OD values were recorded at 37 °C by isolate G4N1 (OD value (0.6667), while G3N1 exhibited a maximum growth OD value of 0.4227 at pH 2. On the other hand, G2N4 gave a maximum OD value of 0.8800 at 0.3% bile salt concentration. The promising isolates were sequenced and identified to species level. Based on phylogenetic tree analysis, all the five probiotic yeast isolates had one common ancestor and belonging to Saccharomyces cerevisiae (G1N1 and G2N4), Candida humilis (G3N1 and B6N3), and Pichia kudriavzevii (G8N1). This study revealed that Ethiopian injera sourdough could be potential source of different probiotic yeast strains. Strong emphasis should be given about the use of probiotic yeasts that are isolated from Ethiopian fermented foods.