African Journal of Biotechnology Vol. 4 (2), pp. 160-163, February 2005          
ISSN 1684–5315 © 2005 Academic Journals

Full Length Research Paper

Characteristics of fermentation yeast isolated from traditional Ethiopian honey wine, ogol

Teramoto Y.^1*, Sato R.², and Ueda S.¹

¹Department of Applied Microbial Technology, Sojo University, Ikeda 4-22-1, Kumamoto 860-0082, Japan

²Graduate School of Social and Cultural Studies Kyushu University, Ropponmatsu 4-2-1, Fukuoka 810-8560, Japan.

*Corresponding author.  E-mail: yuji@bio.sojo-u.ac.jp; Tel.: (0) 96, 326 2111 ; Fax: +81 (0) 96, 326 3000.

Accepted 20 December, 2005

Indigenous honey wine, known locally as ogol, was collected in a village of the Majangir ethnic group in Southwest Ethiopia, and the procedure for ogol fermentation was investigated. A fermentation yeast was first isolated from ogol and identified as being a strain of the genus Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Honey wine made with S. cerevisiae ET99 contains 16.5% (v/v) ethanol; the acidity and pH were 6.0 and 3.8, respectively. Volatile ester and higher alcohol were detected by gas chromatography. A relatively higher amount of propan-1-ol (43 mg/l) was found in the honey wine than in those made with wine yeast W4 and sake yeast K7. The aroma characteristics of honey wine made with yeast ET99 were acceptable, as determined by organoleptic tests, and were found to be applicable to ethanol fermentation.

Key Words: Honey wine, ogol, indigenous alcoholic beverage, fermentation, Saccharomyces, Ethiopia.