Yeasts play an important role in the food and beverage industry, especially in
products such as bread, wine, and beer, among many others. However, their use as
a starter in table olive processing has not yet been studied in detail. The
candidate yeast strains should be able to dominate fermentation, together with
lactic acid bacteria, but should also provide a number of beneficial advantages.
Technologically, yeasts should resist low pH and high salt concentrations,
produce desirable aromas, improve lactic acid bacteria growth, and inhibit
spoilage microorganisms. Nowadays, they are being considered as probiotic agents
because many species are able to resist the passage through the gastrointestinal
tract and show favorable effects on the host. In this way, yeasts may improve
the health of consumers by means of the degradation of non-assimilated compounds
(such as phytate complexes), a decrease in cholesterol levels, the production of
vitamins and antioxidants, the inhibition of pathogens, an adhesion to
intestinal cell line Caco-2, and the maintenance of epithelial barrier
integrity. Many yeast species, usually found in table olive processing
(Wickerhamomyces anomalus, Saccharomyces
cerevisiae, Pichia membranifaciens, and
Kluyveromyces lactis, among others), have exhibited some of
these properties. Thus, the selection of the most appropriate strains to be used
as starters in this fermented vegetable, alone or in combination with lactic
acid bacteria, is a promising research line to develop in the near future.
