Inhibition of bacterial growth and malolactic fermentation in wine by bacteriophage

Abstract

Bacteriophage present in wine can attack bacterial starter cultures and inhibit the malolactic fermentation. The possibility of starter culture failure due to phage attack was studied in a commercial dry red wine of pH 3·23, inoculated with a multiple strain starter culture. During two stages of malolactic fermentation, bacterial growth and malate degradation in the wine were inhibited. A phage capable of lysing isolates of Leuconostoc oenos was isolated from the wine. The isolated phage had an icosahedral head of 42–45 nm diameter and a flexible, regularly cross‐striated tail 197–207 nm long with a small baseplate. The results confirm that phage can attack bacterial starter cultures in wine at low pH.