The presence of yeasts in food is not unexpected, as they are part of the microbiota of raw materials, employed as starter cultures in numerous fermentation processes, and also play a role in spontaneous fermentation. Nevertheless, they have the potential to induce spoilage, which can lead to significant quality issues, and certain yeasts have the ability to cause infections in humans and animals, posing a food safety risk. The detection of yeasts in food, determination of their cell number, as well as identification and typing, are therefore often tasks during the examination of certain food categories. The methods employed to achieve these objectives are diverse, encompassing both conventional culture-based techniques and more recent, genome-based studies. The objective of this study is to provide a summary article that presents the methods suitable for testing food-derived yeasts. The article will highlight the advantages, disadvantages, and potential difficulties of their applicability. Moreover, a comprehensive review of nucleic acid-based, culture-dependent and culture-independent molecular yeast identification techniques was conducted, encompassing scientific articles from the past five years (2020–2024). The search was based on the Science Direct database using the keywords “yeast and molecular identification and food”.

Pathogenic fungi can cause significant annual losses in the quality and quantity of fruits belonging to Rosaceae family during pre‐ and postharvest. Synthetic fungicides are considered the main method for controlling diseases in food crops; however, they pose a great risk to human health and to the environment. As a result, biological control methods, which are based on living microorganisms to reduce the population or to inhibit the growth of pathogens, have arisen as a safe alternative. In this review, we highlight the principal mechanisms (e.g., nutrition and space competition, mycoparasitism, induced resistance and growth enhancement, production of volatile organic compounds, and antibiosis) utilized by the most frequently reported non‐Saccharomyces biocontrol agents (BCAs) yeasts: Meyerozyma guilliermondii, Pichia membranifaciens, Wickerhamomyces anomalus, Metschnikowia pulcherrima, Hanseniaspora uvarum, and Aureobasidium pullulans, against the common pathogenic fungi found within Rosaceae family: Penicillium expansum, Botrytis cinerea, and Monilinia spp. Understanding BCAs’ importance and mode of action is a necessary step in order to reduce the detrimental effect of spoilage fungi in the agriculture and food industry, by achieving a more sustainable and safer control of them.

Modern viticulture is undergoing a paradigm shift, transitioning from a plant-centric view to the holobiont concept, which considers the grapevine (Vitis vinifera L.) and its associated microbiota as a single co-evolved functional unit. This review synthesizes current knowledge on the grapevine holobiont, identifying the drivers of microbial assembly (genotype, environment, management) and their functional implications for plant health and wine quality. We discuss the pillars of plant health, defining disease as a state of dysbiosis rather than merely the presence of a pathogen. Special attention is given to the spatial compartmentalization of the microbiome, from the gating mechanisms of the rhizosphere to the transient diversity of the anthosphere. Furthermore, we highlight the methodological evolution from culture-dependent techniques to Next-Generation Sequencing (NGS) and the emerging role of MALDI-TOF MS as a rapid, cost-effective tool for real-time monitoring. Finally, we propose a roadmap for microbiome-assisted viticulture that utilizes synthetic microbial communities (SynComs) and hologenomic breeding to enhance resilience against climate change.