Non-Conventional Yeasts to Produce Aroma Compounds by Using Agri-Food Waste Materials

Nowadays, biotechnological applications are emphasized to ensure sustainable development by re-utilizing of waste materials to prevent ecological problems and to produce or recover compounds that may have positive effects on health. Yeasts are fascinating microorganisms that play a key role in several traditional and innovative processes. Although Saccharomyces is the most important genus of yeasts, and they are major producers of biotechnological products worldwide, a variety of other yeast genera and species than Saccharomyces, which called ‘non-Saccharomyces’ or ‘non-conventional’ yeasts also have important potential in order to use in biotechnological applications. Some of the non-conventional yeast strains offer a unique potential for biotechnological applications to produce valuable secondary metabolites due to their characteristics of surviving and growing in such extreme conditions, e.g. wide substrate range, rapid growth, thermotolerance, etc. In this review, we aimed to summarize potential biotechnological applications of some non-conventional yeasts (Kluyveromyces spp., Yarrowia spp., Pichia spp., Candida spp., etc.) to produce industrially important aroma compounds (phenylethyl alcohol, phenylethyl acetate, isobutyl acetate, diacetyl, etc.) by re-utilizing agri-food waste materials in order to prevent ecological problems and to produce or recover compounds that may have positive effects on health.