Yeast strain and method for using the same to produce nicotinamide riboside

1. An isolated Saccharomyces strain deficient in the expression of genes involved in nicotinamide riboside import and salvage.

2. The Saccharomyces strain of claim 1 , wherein said strain does not express Nicotinamide Riboside Kinase 1 (Nrk1), Uridine Hydrolase 1 (Urh1), Purine Nucleoside Phosphorylase (Pnp1), and Nicotinamide Riboside Transporter 1 (Nrt1).

3. The Saccharomyces strain of claim 1 , wherein said strain secretes at least 8 mg/L nicotinamide riboside.

4. The Saccharomyces strain of claim 1 , wherein said fungus is Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

5. A method for producing nicotinamide riboside comprising culturing the Saccharomyces strain of claim 1 in culture medium and recovering nicotinamide riboside from the medium thereby producing nicotinamide riboside.

6. The method of claim 5 , wherein the culture medium comprises nicotinic acid or nicotinamide.

7. The method of claim 5 , wherein the fungal strain is cultured to an optical density of at least 3.

8. The method of claim 5 , wherein the nicotinamide riboside is recovered by solubilizing nicotinamide riboside from the medium with methanol and subjecting the nicotinamide riboside to column chromatography.

9. A method for producing a nicotinamide riboside-supplemented food product comprising providing a fermentable substrate and fermenting the fermentable substrate in the presence of the Saccharomyces strain of claim 1 thereby producing a nicotinamide riboside supplemented food product.

10. A nicotinamide riboside supplemented food product fermented in the presence of the Saccharomyces strain of claim 1 .

11. The product of claim 10 , wherein said food product is wine, beer, cider, kvass, root beer, soy sauce or bread.