Chinese researchers have cultivated two local wine yeast strains and large-scale industrial application has been realized for them, according to the Northwest A&F University (NWAFU) in northwest China's Shaanxi Province.

China's wine industry has long relied solely on imported wine yeast, and this research is changing that trend.

The NWAFU research team spent 22 years collecting and optimizing local yeast resources, and established a germplasm bank of more than 20,000 local wine yeast strains.

Large-scale industrial application has been realized for CECA and CEC01, two excellent local wine yeast strains with strong tolerance, strong fermentation ability and strong aroma expression ability, according to the university.

The two types of yeast have now replaced 30 percent of imported yeasts, and they have been exported to several traditional European wine-producing countries.

The achievements have promoted the technological upgrade and sustainable development of China's wine industry, the university said.

The research was jointly conducted by a number of scientific research institutions and enterprises. Its results have received 10 national authorized invention patents, and have been applied in all grape cultivation areas in China.