Seven species of yeasts, largely consisting of Zygosaccharomyces, Debaryomyces and Schizosaccharomyces were subjected to osmotic stress using solute glucose to control water activity (Aw) in the growth media. An increased accumulation of polyhydric alcohols was revealed when the concentration of solute was increased from 2% to 60%. Qualitative identification of the cell extracts revealed the presence of polyols like glycerol, arabitol and mannitol.