NITRATE REDUCTION AND ATNC FORMATION BY BREWERY WILD YEASTS

Abstract

Control of NAD(P)H-dependent nitrate reductase (NR) and nitrite reductase (NiR) synthesis and activity in Hansenula anomala, Rhodotorula glutinis, Candida versatilis and Brettanomyces anomalus was investigated. Activities of both enzymes were high in all four yeasts when cultured in a medium containing nitrate as the sole source of cell nitrogen, but ammonia and amino-nitrogen were shown to rapidly repress nitrate assimilation and reduction. Little or no NR or NiR activity was detected in wort or beer-grown cultures. Only B. anomalus was found to excrete nitrite when grown in wort, but not at a concentration which could be chemically reduced to allow formation of a detectable concentration of N-nitrosamines. Cask beer (containing 16 mgl−1 nitrate) contaminated with nitrate reducing wild yeasts, pre-grown on nitrate, contained < 10 μgl−1 Apparent Total N-Nitrosocompounds (ATNC) following 10 weeks storage. It was concluded that contamination of wort, fermentation and finished beer by nitrate-reducing wild yeast is unlikely to result in formation of detectable ATNC.