Vitamins in wine: Which, what for, and how much?

Vitamins are essential compounds to yeasts, and notably in winemaking contexts. Vitamins are involved in numerous yeast metabolic pathways, including those of amino acids, fatty acids, and alcohols, which suggests their notable implication in fermentation courses, as well as in the development of aromatic compounds in wines. Although they are major components in the course of those microbial processes, their significance and impact have not been extensively studied in the context of winemaking and wine products, as most of the studies focusing on the subject in the past decades have relied on relatively insensitive and imprecise analytical methods. Therefore, this review provides an extensive overview of the current knowledge regarding the impacts of vitamins on grape must fermentations, wine-related yeast metabolisms, and requirements, as well as on the profile of wine sensory characteristics. We also highlight the methodologies and techniques developed over time to perform vitamin analysis in wines, and assess the importance of precisely defining the role played by vitamins in winemaking processes, to ensure finer control of the fermentation courses and product characteristics in a highly complex matrix.

Utilization of waste products of dehydrated onion industry for production of fodder yeast by Saccharomyces cerevisiae

One strain of Saccharomyces cerevisiae was selected from different yeasts, isolated from black strap molasses. This microorganism was cultivated on seven fermentation media for the production of protein. Medium I exhibited the highest potentiality for formation of protein. Therefore strain 1 of S. cerevisiae and medium I were used for further studies in the formation of protein. Factors controlling production of protein were explored. The required incubation period for the fermentation process was 72 hrs, while the initial pH value of the medium was 6.0. Sucrose supported the microorganism for higher production of protein (40.96%), while the best concentration of sucrose was shown to be 10.0 g/l. The best inorganic and organic nitrogen sources for protein formation were (NH4)2HPO4, (NH4)3PO4 and yeast extract, respectively. The best concentrations of (NH4)2HPO4 and yeast extract, supporting protein formation, were 5.0 g/l and 10.0 g/l, respectively. Addition of MgSO4, ZnSO4, ferrous ammonium sulphate, copper sulphate, biotin, Ca-pantothenate, thiamine, pyridoxine, and inositol to the synthetic medium did not markedly influence high level of protein formation. Glutamic acid was the best amino acid, supporting protein formation by S. cerevisiae. Onion juice was found to be a good medium, after deletion of inhibitory volatile sulphur organic compounds, for the production of protein by S. cerevisiae. Addition of (NH4)2HPO4 to the best concentration of onion juice assisted the onion medium in production of fodder yeast, containing high level of protein. Addition of MgSO4 to onion juice and (NH4)2HPO4 did not increase the total nitrogen of the biomass. Fodder yeast, produced by onion juice medium, contained more valuable ingredients than fodder yeast, produced by synthetic medium.