Saccharomyces cerevisiae (NCIM 3287) was immobilized in sodium alginate beads to produce a biocatalyst for use in guava wine making. The immobilized biocatalyst was found to be suitable for guava juice fermentation at ambient temperatures. The study included effects of alginate concentrations, initial bead loadings and bead diameters on fermentation. The optimized parameters were 2% (w/v) alginate concentration, 60g/l initial bead loading and 3 mm bead diameter for effective fermentation of guava must.
