Selection of indigenous Saccharomyces cerevisiae strains in Shanshan County (Xinjiang, China) for winemaking and their aroma-producing characteristics

Selection of indigenous Saccharomyces cerevisiae strains with good oenological and aroma characteristics for winemaking in Ningxia China

Ningxia is one of the well-known wine producing regions in China. However, the oenological and aroma characteristics of indigenous yeasts remains hidden. The fermentative and oenological properties including stress resistance, hydrogen sulfide, foam production levels; killer phenotype, and flocculation of 89 Ningxia indigenous Saccharomyces cerevisiae isolates and ten commercial yeasts were evaluated. The fermentative and oenological properties of the tested strains varied significantly. They could resist 500 g/L glucose, 300 mg/L SO2, 14% (v/v) ethanol and pH 2.8, and produce more esters. They also produce low levels of ethanol and could conduct fermentations vigorously and at a high rate. Cabernet Sauvignon wines made with NXU 21-24 showed the high intensity of tropical fruit, dry fruit, temperate fruit, and spicy flavor. The floral flavor in NXU 21-102 fermented wine is very intense. The indigenous S. cerevisiae strains of NXU 21-102 and NXU 21-24 exhibited potential use as starter cultures in wine production.

The Role of Indigenous Yeasts in Shaping the Chemical and Sensory Profiles of Wine: Effects of Different Strains and Varieties

The microbial terroir is an indispensable part of the terroir panorama, and can improve wine quality with special characteristics. In this study, eight autochthonous yeasts (Saccharomyces cerevisiae), selected in Huailai country, China, were trailed in small-scale and pilot fermentations for both white (Riesling and Sémillon) and red (Cabernet Sauvignon and Syrah) wines and evaluated by GC-MS analysis and the rate-all-that-apply (RATA) method. Compared to commercial yeast strains, the indigenous yeasts were able to produce higher concentrations of ethyl esters and fatty acid ethyl esters, and higher alcohol, resulting in higher odor activity values of fruity, floral attributes. Marked varietal effects were observed in the pilot fermentation, but yeast strains exerted a noticeable impact in modulating wine aroma and sensory profile. Overall, indigenous yeast could produce more preferred aroma compounds and sensory characteristics for both white and red wines, demonstrating the potential for improving wine quality and regional characteristics.

Evaluation of Indigenous Yeasts Screened from Chinese Vineyards as Potential Starters for Improving Wine Aroma

Exploitation of the biodiversity of native wine yeast is a means of modifying the sensory characteristics of wine. Samples from different regions in China were analysed to screen native isolates as potential starter cultures. Through morphological and molecular biological analyses, we found six species, belonging to four genera (Hanseniaspora, Saccharomyces, Rhodotorula and Metschnikowia). These species were subjected to stress tolerance assays (ethanol, glucose, SO2 and pH), enzymatic activity tests (sulphite reductase activity, β-glucosidase activity and protease activity) and fermentation tests. Saccharomyces cerevisiae showed a high tolerance to ethanol and completed fermentation independently. Hanseniaspora demonstrated good enzymatic activity and completed sequential fermentation. The fermentation experiment showed that the PCT4 strain had the best aroma complexity. This study provides a reference for selecting new starters from the perspective of flavour enzymes and tolerance and diversifying the sensory quality of wines from the region.

Authentication of Polish Red Wines Produced from Zweigelt and Rondo Grape Varieties Based on Volatile Compounds Analysis in Combination with Machine Learning Algorithms: Hotrienol as a Marker of the Zweigelt Variety

The aim of this study was to determine volatile compounds in red wines of Zweigelt and Rondo varieties using HS-SPME/GC-MS and to find a marker and/or a classification model for the assessment of varietal authenticity. The wines were produced by using five commercial yeast strains and two types of malolactic fermentation. Sixty-seven volatile compounds were tentatively identified in the test wines; they represented several classes: 9 acids, 24 alcohols, 2 aldehydes, 19 esters, 2 furan compounds, 2 ketones, 1 sulfur compound and 8 terpenes. 3,7-dimethyl-1,5,7-octatrien-3-ol (hotrienol) was found to be a variety marker for Zweigelt wines, since it was detected in all the Zweigelt wines, but was not present in the Rondo wines at all. The relative concentrations of volatiles were used as an input data set, divided into two subsets (training and testing), to the support vector machine (SVM) and k-nearest neighbor (kNN) algorithms. Both machine learning methods yielded models with the highest possible classification accuracy (100%) when the relative concentrations of all the test compounds or alcohols alone were used as input data. An evaluation of the importance value of subsets consisting of six volatile compounds with the highest potential to distinguish between the Zweigelt and Rondo varieties revealed that SVM and kNN yielded the best classification models (F-score of 1, accuracy of 100%) when 3-ethyl-4-methylpentan-1-ol or 3,7-dimethyl-1,5,7-octatrien-3-ol (hotrienol) or subsets containing one or both of them were used. Moreover, the best SVM model (F-score of 1) was built with a subset containing 2-phenylethyl acetate and 3-(methylsulfanyl)propan-1-ol.

The Sensory Quality Improvement of Citrus Wine through Co-Fermentations with Selected Non-Saccharomyces Yeast Strains and Saccharomyces cerevisiae

Co-fermentation of selected non-Saccharomyces yeast strain with Saccharomyces cerevisiae is regarded as a promising approach to improve the sensory quality of fruit wine. To evaluate the effects of co-fermentations between the selected non-Saccharomyces yeast strains (Hanseniaspora opuntiae, Hanseniaspora uvarum and Torulaspora delbrueckii) and S. cerevisiae on the sensory quality of citrus wine, the fermentation processes, the chemical compositions, and the sensory evaluations of citrus wines were analyzed. Compared with those of S. cerevisiae fermentation, co-fermentations produced high sensory qualities, and S. cerevisiae/H. opuntiae co-fermentation had the best sensory quality followed by Sc-Hu and Sc-Td co-fermentations. Additionally, all the co-fermentations had a lower amount of ethanol and total acidity, higher pH value, and higher content of volatile aroma compounds, especially the content of higher alcohol and ester compounds, than those of S. cerevisiae fermentation. Therefore, co-fermentations of the non-Saccharomyces yeast strains and S. cerevisiae could be employed to improve the sensory quality of citrus wines. These results would provide not only methods to improve the sensory quality of citrus wine, but also a valuable reference for the selection of non-Saccharomyces yeast strains for fruit wine fermentation.

The complexity of wine: clarifying the role of microorganisms

The concept of wine complexity has gained considerable interest in recent years, both for wine consumers and wine scientists. As a consequence, some research programs concentrate on the factors that could improve the perceived complexity of a wine. Notably, the possible influence of microbiological factors is particularly investigated. However, wine complexity is a multicomponent concept not easily defined. In this review, we first describe the actual knowledge regarding wine complexity, its perception, and wine chemical composition. In particular, we emphasize that, contrary to expectations, the perception of wine complexity is not related to wine chemical complexity. Then, we review the impact of wine microorganisms on wine complexity, with a specific focus on publications including sensory analyses. While microorganisms definitively can impact wine complexity, the underlying mechanisms and molecules are far from being deciphered. Finally, we discuss some prospective research fields that will help improving our understanding of wine complexity, including perceptive interactions, microbial interactions, and other challenging phenomena.

Comparative studies on the fermentation performance of autochthonous Saccharomyces cerevisiae strains in Chinese light-fragrant liquor during solid-state or submerged fermentation

AIM

To explore the metabolic characteristic of autochthonous Saccharomyces cerevisiae strains in Chinese light-fragrant liquor fermentation.

METHODS AND RESULTS

Inter-delta amplification analysis was used to differentiate the S. cerevisiae strains at strain level. Twelve biotypes (I-XII) were identified among the 72 S. cerevisiae strains preselected. A comparison was conducted between solid-state fermentation (SSF) and submerged fermentation (SmF) with S. cerevisiae strains had different genotype, with a focus on the production of ethanol and the volatile compounds. The degree of ethanol ranged from 28·0 to 45·2 g l^-1 in SmF and from 14·8 to 25·6 g kg^-1 in SSF, and SSF was found to be more suitable for the production of ethanol with higher yield coefficient of all the S. cerevisiae strains. The metabolite profiles of each yeast strain showed obvious distinction in the two fermentations. The highest amounts of ethyl acetate in SmF and SSF were found in genotype VII (328·2 μg l^-1 ) and genotype V (672 μg kg^-1 ), respectively. In addition, the generation of some volatile compounds could be strictly related to the strain used. Compound β-damascenone was only detected in genotypes I, II, X and XII in the two fermentation processes. Furthermore, laboratory scale fermentations were clearly divided into SSF and SmF in hierarchical cluster analysis regardless of the inoculated yeast strains, indicating that the mode of fermentation was more important than the yeast strains inoculated.

CONCLUSION

The autochthonous S. cerevisiae strains in Chinese light-fragrant liquor vary considerably in terms of their volatiles profiles during SSF and SmF.

SIGNIFICANCE AND IMPACT OF THE STUDY

This work facilitates a better understanding of the fermentative mechanism in the SSF process for light-fragrant liquor production.