Sixteen yeast isolates from various sources in-cluding molasses, foodstuffs, concentrated juices and soils were identified using simplified API 20 C AUX yeast identification system and random amplified polymorphic DNA-polymerase chain reaction (RAPD-PCR). The isolates were found to belong to 11 species; Candida famata, C. glabra-ta, C. krusei / inconspicua, C. norvegensis, C. col-liculosa, Cryptococcus humicolus, Rhodotorula mucilaginosa, Kloeckera spp., Geotrichum capita-tum and Saccharomyces cerevisiae. API and RAPD-PCR proved to be useful and convenient taxonomic tools for rapid identification at the spe-cies level, proving that at least two techniques are needed for precise identification. RAPD-PCR pro-cedure is faster than traditional characterization techniques; the identification of a single colony was typically achieved in less than 10 hr.