Abstract
Aroma profile is one of the main features for the acceptance of wine. Yeasts and bacteria are the responsible organisms to carry out both, alcoholic and malolactic fermentation. Alcoholic fermentation is in turn, responsible for transforming grape juice into wine and providing secondary aromas. Secondary aroma can be influenced by different factors; however, the influence of the microorganisms is one of the main agents affecting final wine aroma profile. Saccharomyces cerevisiae has historically been the most used yeast for winemaking process for its specific characteristics: high fermentative metabolism and kinetics, low acetic acid production, resistance to high levels of sugar, ethanol, sulfur dioxide and also, the production of pleasant aromatic compounds. Nevertheless, in the last years, the use of non-saccharomyces yeasts has been progressively growing according to their capacity to enhance aroma complexity and interact with S. cerevisiae, especially in mixed cultures. Hence, this review article is aimed at associating the main secondary aroma compounds present in wine with the microorganisms involved in the spontaneous and guided fermentations, as well as an approach to the strain variability of species, the genetic modifications that can occur and their relevance to wine aroma construction.
Highlights
Secondary Wine AromaPublisher’s Note: MDPI stays neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations
Regarding the whole chemical diversity found in wine and in particular, in volatile aroma compounds, those related with secondary or fermentative aroma are mainly higher alcohols and esters, together with volatile fatty acid and volatile phenols, and they are the compounds mostly studied in research articles regarding wine aroma
In the last years, winemaking industry has undergone important transformations and despite S. cerevisiae is still used in production purposes for its desirable characteristics, non-saccharomyces yeasts have been highlighted as organisms that can positively influence aroma profile
Summary
Publisher’s Note: MDPI stays neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations. The main created aromas belong to the volatile fatty acids, higher alcohols, acetate and ethyl ester categories which make evolve the aroma profile of wine [3] These molecules are usually present at high sensory thresholds (the oxidation products of linalool possesses a perception threshold of 6000 μg/L) and their combination creates the matrix of wine aroma [3,13]. Among the three classes of aroma, achieving an appropriate combination of secondary aromas represents the most intricate procedure This stage implies the correct selection of yeasts and bacteria to perform the fermentation steps while avoiding wine spoiling due to cross contamination or due to the innate grape microbiota. For obtaining a wine with well-defined secondary aromas and flavors, it is essential to understand how different microbial species interact with each other and which sensorial properties are capable to provide based on the metabolic pathways they develop
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