A new fear in wine: Isolation of Staphylococcus epidermidis histamine producer

Potential Risks of Tebuconazole during Wine Fermentation at the Enantiomer Level Based on Multiomics Analysis

The enantioselectivity and potential risks of tebuconazole enantiomers (R-tebuconazole and S-tebuconazole) in wine fermentation were investigated in this study using Cabernet Sauvignon grapes. Tebuconazole was mainly degraded during the alcoholic fermentation stage, and no obvious transformation between R-tebuconazole and S-tebuconazole was observed. Selective degradation between these two enantiomers occurred, with R-tebuconazole degrading faster than S-tebuconazole. The residual tebuconazole inhibits glucose metabolism and the unsaturated fatty acid formation in the wine fermentation system and inhibits gene expression in the late phase of Saccharomycetales, affecting its cell wall formation. Overall, the findings highlight that R-tebuconazole exhibited a higher risk than S-tebuconazole in these processes. These insights are potentially exploitable to understand chiral pesticides at the enantiomer level using multiomics technology in food-processing systems.

Wine Lactic Acid Bacteria with Antimicrobial Activity as Potential Biocontrol Agents against Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. lycopersici

Lactic acid bacteria isolated from wine fermentations, particularly from the malolactic fermentation, and belonging to Lactobacillus plantarum, Lactobacillus hilgardii, Lactobacillus paracasei and Lactococcus lactis species were tested for their effectiveness in inhibiting the development of different microorganisms. The different strains showed, to varying degrees, an antagonistic effect against bacteria of the genera Bacillus and Staphylococcus. The specificity of the species L. hilgardii that inhibits only strains of the genus Bacillus is remarkable, on the other hand, L. plantarum was more effective against the strains of the genus Staphylococcus. The greatest effectiveness, considering both the degree of inhibition and the number of inhibited species, was presented by strains of L. lactis and L. paracasei. Seven strains belonging to the species that showed a more broad-spectrum activity, L. paracasei and L. plantarum, were also tested for their ability to inhibit the growth of fungi. All of them showed, in different degree (55–76%), activity against Fusarium oxysporum. Finally, the ability of the L. paracasei LPAUV12 and L. plantarum LPLUV10 strains was evaluated to protect Lycopersicon esculentum plants against the fungus F. oxysporum and promote its growth. Strain LPLUV10, showed capacity to significantly inhibit the harmful effect of F. oxysporum in tomato plants as well as to significantly stimulate their growth.

Climate Changes and Food Quality: The Potential of Microbial Activities as Mitigating Strategies in the Wine Sector

Climate change threatens food systems, with huge repercussions on food security and on the safety and quality of final products. We reviewed the potential of food microbiology as a source of biotechnological solutions to design climate-smart food systems, using wine as a model productive sector. Climate change entails considerable problems for the sustainability of oenology in several geographical regions, also placing at risk the wine typicity. The main weaknesses identified are: (i) The increased undesired microbial proliferation; (ii) the improved sugars and, consequently, ethanol content; (iii) the reduced acidity and increased pH; (iv) the imbalanced perceived sensory properties (e.g., colour, flavour); and (v) the intensified safety issues (e.g., mycotoxins, biogenic amines). In this paper, we offer an overview of the potential microbial-based strategies suitable to cope with the five challenges listed above. In terms of microbial diversity, our principal focus was on microorganisms isolated from grapes/musts/wines and on microbes belonging to the main categories with a recognized positive role in oenological processes, namely Saccharomyces spp. (e.g., Saccharomyces cerevisiae), non-Saccharomyces yeasts (e.g., Metschnikowia pulcherrima, Torulaspora delbrueckii, Lachancea thermotolerans, and Starmerella bacillaris), and malolactic bacteria (e.g., Oenococcus oeni, Lactobacillus plantarum).

Looking at the Origin: Some Insights into the General and Fermentative Microbiota of Vineyard Soils

In winemaking processes, there is a current tendency to develop spontaneous fermentations taking advantage of the metabolic diversity of derived from the great microbial diversity present in grape musts. This enological practice enhances wine complexity, but undesirable consequences or deviations could appear on wine quality. Soil is a reservoir of important microorganisms for different beneficial processes, especially for plant nutrition, but it is also the origin of many of the phytopathogenic microorganisms that affect vines. In this study, a meta-taxonomic analysis of the microbial communities inhabiting vineyard soils was realized. A significant impact of the soil type and climate aspects (seasonal patterns) was observed in terms of alpha and beta bacterial diversity, but fungal populations appeared as more stable communities in vineyard soils, especially in terms of alpha diversity. Focusing on the presence and abundance of wine-related microorganisms present in the studied soils, some seasonal and soil-dependent patterns were observed. The Lactobacillaceae family, containing species responsible for the malolactic fermentation, was only present in non-calcareous soils samples and during the summer season. The study of wine-related fungi indicated that the Debaryomycetaceae family dominates the winter yeast population, whereas the Saccharomycetaceae family, containing the most important fermentative yeast species for winemaking, was detected as dominant in summer.

Accumulation of Biogenic Amines in Wine: Role of Alcoholic and Malolactic Fermentation

Biogenic amines (BAs) are detrimental to health and originate in foods mainly from decarboxylation of the corresponding amino acid by the activity of exogenous enzymes released by various microorganisms. BAs can be generated at different stages of the wine production. Some of them are formed in the vineyard and are normal constituents of grapes with amounts varying with variety, soil type and composition, fertilization and climatic conditions during growth and degree of maturation. BAs can be also formed by the yeasts during the alcoholic fermentation (AF), as well as by the action of bacteria involved in the malolactic fermentation (MLF). As aminogenesis is a complex and multifactorial phenomenon, the studies carried out to identify the main vinification stage of BAs production yielded contradictory results. In particular, there is not a general consensus yet on which fermentation supports mostly the accumulation of BAs in wine. In this context, the aim of the present paper deals with the most recent results related with the influence of alcoholic and malolactic fermentation parameters on BAs-producer microorganism in wine.

MALDI-TOF-MS based identification and molecular characterization of food associated methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus

Food-borne methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) is involved in two-fold higher mortality rate compared to methicillin susceptible S. aureus (MSSA). Eventhough Mysuru recognized as cleanest city in the world, prevalence of food contamination is not detailed. The aim is to screen food samples from Mysuru area and to characterize MRSA strain, employing MALDI-Biotyper, multiplex PCR to distinguish between MRSA and MSSA by PCR-coupled single strand conformation polymorphism (PCR-SSCP). Of all the food-borne pathogens, S. aureus contamination accounts for 94.37 ± 0.02% (P < 0.01), strains characterized by means of nuc genes, followed by species specific identification by Coa, Eap and SpA genes and multiplex PCR to confirm the presence of three methicillin resistant staphylococcal species simultaneously using nuc and phoP genes. Amplification of mecA gene in 159 isolates confirmed that all strains are methicillin resistant, except UOM160 (MSSA) and multi-drug resistant (MDR) in 159 isolates confirmed by 22 sets of β-lactam antibiotics. MSSA and MDR-MRSA were discriminated by PCR-SSCP using nuc gene for the first time. From the present studies, compared to conventional methods MALDI-Biotyper emerged as an effective, sensitive (>99%), robust (<2 min), and alternative tool for pathogen identification, and we developed a PCR-SSCP technique for rapid detection of MSSA and MRSA strains.

Metabolites of Microbial Origin with an Impact on Health: Ochratoxin A and Biogenic Amines

Safety and quality are significant challenges for food; namely, safety represents a big threat all over the world and is one of the most important goal to be achieved in both Western Society and Developing Countries. Wine safety mainly relies upon some metabolites and many of them are of microbial origin. The main goal of this review is a focus on two kinds of compounds (biogenic amines and mycotoxins, mainly Ochratoxin A) for their deleterious effects on health. For each class of compounds, we will focus on two different traits: (a) synthesis of the compounds in wine, with a brief description of the most important microorganisms and factors leading this phenomenon; (b) prevention and/or correction strategies and new trends. In addition, there is a focus on a recent predictive tool able to predict toxin contamination of grape, in order to perform some prevention approaches and achieve safe wine.

Evaluation of growth, metabolism and production of potentially bioactive components during fermentation of barley with Lactobacillus reuteri

Eighteen bacterial isolates from millet, buckwheat and rye flour were identified as Lactobacillus reuteri. Genomic fingerprinting (rep-PCR) revealed that they represented five strains and phylogenetic analyses using multi locus sequence analysis (MLSA) showed that all clustered with strains of rodent origin. Two strains (SU12-3 and SU18-3) from different phylogenetic clades were used in fermentations of six varieties of barley, both untreated and heat-treated (with inactivated indigenous enzymes) flour. They were compared with two probiotic strains of human origin (DSM 17938 and ATCC PTA 6475), one previously isolated sourdough strain (LTH 5531) and one strain of Lactobacillus plantarum (36E). Analyses of growth (CFU) and metabolism (1H-NMR) revealed differences at species level, with L. plantarum showing a higher capacity to assimilate nutrients without help of the cereal enzymes. Similarities were observed between L. reuteri strains isolated from sourdough, while the greatest differences between L. reuteri strains were observed between strains 6475 and 17938. Multivariate analysis of the metabolic profiles revealed clear clustering according to flour treatment, species of bacteria and barley variety and to some extent also bacterial strain. Possible bioactive compounds such as γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA), 1,3- propanediol (sign of reuterin production) and histamine were identified and quantified.