ABSTRACT

Palm wine is a highly cherished beverage widely consumed in West Africa, Asia and South America (Ezeronye. 2004: Ezeronye and Okerentugba, 2002). In Nigeria f is found in the Southern geopolitical zones (South-East, South-West, South-South). It is harvested from palm trees. The method of harvest usually depends on the locality and the type of palm-tree. There are two major types of palm tree viz Elaies guineensis and R iphia vinifera (Ezeronye and Okerentugb., 2002). Fresh palm-sap harvested from palm-trees prior to fermentatin is sWet, clear and colourless and it usually contains about 12% of sugars. It is a rich source of sugars like sucrose, maltose, glucose, fructose and affinose (Okafor, 1978) It is .lso rich in nutrients like amino acids and vitamins (Okafor, 1q78). Various non-pathogenic microorganisms of industrial importance have been identified with the fermentation of fresh palm-sap to palm wine. Yeasts like SaccharQmyces cerevisiae, Saccharomyces uvarum, Saccharomyces ca,Isbeiçje,isis, Cañdida ulilis, Candida tropicalis, SIiizosaccharornyces pombe, Kluyvetomyaes lactis. lactic acid bacteria and other beneficiar organisms (Ezeronye andOkerentugba, 2001: 2002: Uzochukwu etal; 1999).