Abstract
Sulfites and sulfides are produced by yeasts in different amounts depending on different factors, including growth medium and specific strain variability. In natural must, some strains can produce an excess of sulfur compounds that confer unpleasant smells, inhibit malolactic fermentation and lead to health concerns for consumers. In organic wines and in sulfite-free wines the necessity to limit or avoid the presence of sulfide and sulfite requires the use of selected yeast strains that are low producers of sulfur compounds, with good fermentative and aromatic aptitudes. In the present study, exploiting the sexual mass-mating spores’ recombination of a native Saccharomyces cerevisiae strain previously isolated from grape, three new S. cerevisiae strains were selected. They were characterized by low sulfide and sulfite production and favorable aromatic imprinting. This approach, that occurs spontaneously also in nature, allowed us to obtain new native S. cerevisiae strains with desired characteristics that could be proposed as new starters for organic and sulfite-free wine production, able to control sulfur compound production and to valorize specific wine types.
Highlights
Saccharomyces cerevisiae is the yeast species mainly used as starter culture in winemaking for its peculiar physiological and biotechnological properties [1]
S. cerevisiae is characterized by a vigorous alcoholic fermentation under both aerobic and anaerobic conditions [2,3] showing high competitiveness toward other yeasts that commonly colonize fresh grape juice
The use of selected native S. cerevisiae strains as starters of fermentation could be a suitable strategy to overcome the production of standardized wines
Summary
Saccharomyces cerevisiae is the yeast species mainly used as starter culture in winemaking for its peculiar physiological and biotechnological properties [1]. Their wide use as starter of fermentation, can lead to the standardization of the analytical and sensory properties of wines [4,5]. In this regard, the use of selected native S. cerevisiae strains as starters of fermentation could be a suitable strategy to overcome the production of standardized wines. Native yeasts represent a great reservoir of biodiversity characterized by peculiar properties that could be exploited in winemaking to improve the aromatic profile of wines [6,7,8,9,10,11]. The isolation of native S. cerevisiae yeasts with all desired oenological features is difficult to find in environmental niches
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