Inhibition of other yeasts by mycocinogenic strains is mainly
mediated by the production of killer peptides ormycocins, to which
the producer strain is immune. Mycocins are proteins or glycoproteins between 10
and 30 kDa, conventionally constituted by two or three subunits
, which have been found to be widely spread
amongst yeasts
The majority of probiotic strains belong to the genera Lactobacillus
and Bifidobacterium , and regardless of their importance and wide distribution in
foods, the probiotic or beneficial potential of yeasts is usually
overlooked (. To this day, Saccharomyces cerevisiae
var. boulardii is the only yeast recognised and characterised as
probiotic , but this
raises the question whether other yeast strains possess probiotic properties as well