[Isolation and characterization of lactose-fermenting yeasts Candida kefyr].

The search for lactose-fermenting yeast strains has been conducted among 162 strains isolated from various plants and 28 yeast strains isolated from cheese. Four yeast strains have been shown to ferment lactose. They have been identified as Candida kefyr. Specific beta-galactosidase activity of the studied strains grown on lactose-containing medium was 1501-2113 U/g cell. The ethanol production by strains C. kefyr C24 and C30 was significantly inhibited by the increase in substrate concentration (100 g/l).