Culture-dependent and -independent analysis of the yeast population in fermented sorghum for adjunct starter culture selection

This dataset contains information on the yeast diversity in the fermented sorghum beverage Motoho and its inoculum (tomoso) sampled from households in the Free State and Eastern Cape, analyzed using both culture-dependent and independent techniques. It also includes the effects of the dominant yeast species as adjunct starter cultures on the physicochemical characteristics, microbial changes, and shelf life of Motoho.Phase 1: The research focused on using the techniques MALDI-ToF, PCR, and Sanger sequencing for identifying the yeast isolates and shotgun metagenomic sequencing to profile the whole microbial community. The metagenomic results also include the metabolic pathways present during fermentation as determined by KEGG (Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes) database.Phase 2: Focused on using the dominant yeast species identified in phase 1 as adjunct starter cultures in the fermentation of Motoho. This was achieved by inoculating yeasts at 10⁷ CFU/mL in unsterilized sorghum and fermenting for 72 hrs. The dataset shows the pH, titratable acidity, coliform, yeast, lactic acid bacteria, total plate count and organic acid results. A shelf life study was done on the final cooked samples at ambient temperature for 5 days.