Abstract
In parallel with the development of non-Saccharomyces starter cultures in oenology, a growing interest has developed around the interactions between the microorganisms involved in the transformation of grape must into wine. Nowadays, it is widely accepted that the outcome of a fermentation process involving two or more inoculated yeast species will be different from the weighted average of the corresponding individual cultures. Interspecific interactions between wine yeasts take place on several levels, including interference competition, exploitation competition, exchange of metabolic intermediates, and others. Some interactions could be a simple consequence of each yeast running its own metabolic programme in a context where metabolic intermediates and end products from other yeasts are present. However, there are clear indications, in some cases, of specific recognition between interacting yeasts. In this article we discuss the mechanisms that may be involved in the communication between wine yeasts during alcoholic fermentation.
Highlights
Pulcherrimin was first described for Metschnikowia pulcherrima [37], a yeast species frequently found in winemaking environments, which is being developed as a non-Saccharomyces starter and as a biocontrol agent against wine spoilage yeasts [38]
Wine is the result of the activity of many different microorganisms, and this activity is probably modulated by the interactions established between them
Many different works have shown that yeast-to-yeast interactions during wine fermentation do exist, and they can become quite complex when considering an increasing number of initial yeast species [101,102,103]
Summary
Publisher’s Note: MDPI stays neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations. Combined with other traits, such as the Crabtree effect, low oxygen requirement, or tolerance to ethanol, heat, and osmotic stress, this contributes to making S. cerevisiae the dominant species in most non-inoculated fermentations While these spontaneous processes can result in wines of excellent quality, with a great complexity of sensory nuances, they lead to a high degree of uncertainty, given the relatively high incidence of microbial spoilage (driven by both yeast and bacteria), difficult starts, sluggish and even stuck fermentations. The coexistence of two yeast species, with relatively high cell densities, is a novelty compared to the use of pure cultures and has triggered interest in the study of starter culture interactions Another situation in which microbial interactions between wine starters are becoming relevant is the growing practice of inoculating lactic acid bacteria from the early stages of fermentation, to carry out alcoholic and malolactic fermentation simultaneously [15]. In this article we will focus on the interactions between yeast species
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