Influence of Isolation Source on the Probiotic Properties and Health Benefits of Yeasts: Insights from Metabarcoding and Cultivation Approaches

The study aimed to identify potential sources of novel probiotic yeasts exhibiting health-promoting properties. A combination of metabarcoding analysis and cultural methods was employed to investigate and isolate yeasts from various sources, including rice wine, palm wine, fermented shrimp paste at different stages of natural fermentation, and lychee peels. The two analytical methods revealed distinct yeast profiles, and each source exhibited a unique composition of yeast species. Through metabarcoding and cultural methods, it was demonstrated that lychee peels harbored a greater diversity of genera compared to other sources. The evaluation of the probiotic properties of yeasts revealed that lychee peel yielded the highest proportion of isolates with potential probiotic activity (53.33%), followed by palm wine (25%), fermented shrimp paste (10%), and rice wine (9.09%). Moreover, yeast isolates with health-promoting properties as evaluated in this study, including Starmerella meliponinorum L12 and Pichia terricola L9 from lychee peels, demonstrated notable antioxidant activity and cholesterol-reducing properties, respectively. These findings represent the first report providing initial insights into the influence of yeast sources and serve as a guideline for the targeted selection of yeasts with specific probiotic and health-promoting attributes.