Abstract
Biocontrol strategies for the limitation of undesired microbial developments in foods and beverages represent a keystone toward the goal of more sustainable food systems. Brettanomyces bruxellensis is a wine spoilage microorganism that produces several compounds that are detrimental for the organoleptic quality of the wine, including some classes of volatile phenols. To control the proliferation of this yeast, sulfur dioxide is commonly employed, but the efficiency of this compound depends on the B. bruxellensis strain; and it is subject to wine composition and may induce the entrance in a viable, but nonculturable state of yeasts. Moreover, it can also elicit allergic reactions in humans. In recent years, biological alternatives to sulfur dioxide such as the use of yeasts and lactic acid bacteria starter cultures as biocontrol agents are being investigated. The controlled inoculation of starter cultures allows secure, fast and complete alcoholic and malolactic fermentations, limiting the residual nutrients that B. bruxellensis utilizes to survive and grow in wine. The current study is focused on the assessment of the effect of autochthonous yeasts and bacterial strains from the Apulia Region on the development of B. bruxellensis in wine, in terms of both growth and volatile phenols’ production. The investigation evidences the positive role of indigenous mixed cultures in the control of this spoilage yeast, either co-inoculating different strains of Saccharomyces cerevisiae, S. cerevisiae/non-Saccharomyces or co-inoculating S. cerevisiae/Oenococcus oeni. Our findings expand the existing knowledge of the application of protechnological microbial diversity and of non-Saccharomyces as a biocontrol agent in oenology. We report a further demonstration of the interest in selecting indigenous strains as a strategic tool for winemakers interested in the improvement of regional wines.
Highlights
Wine spoilage microbes comprise one of the most relevant problems for the wine industry, due to undesirable products that can lead to considerable economic losses [1,2]
In order to characterize the enological interaction between several autochthonous resources (Saccharomyces spp., non-Saccharomyces spp. and Oenococcus spp.) and “Brett” spoilage during winemaking, the ability of B. bruxellensis to grow has been investigated
4-EG and 4-EP after seven days from the beginning of alcoholic fermentation (AF) are lower than the sensory perception threshold in all samples analyzed, respectively 0.110 and 0.605 ppm in red wine [10]
Summary
Wine spoilage microbes comprise one of the most relevant problems for the wine industry, due to undesirable products that can lead to considerable economic losses [1,2]. Yeasts belonging to the genus Brettanomyces/Dekkera, in particular Brettanomyces bruxellensis, are generally known as some of the main enological spoilage microbes [3,4]. The growth of these yeasts usually leads to the production of volatile phenols that negatively affect the aroma of wine [5,6]. Ethylphenols derive from hydroxycinnamic acids, as a consequence of sequential conversion of specific hydroxycinnamic acids (ferulic and p-coumaric acids): first, the hydroxycinnamate decarboxylase transforms these hydroxycinnamic acids into vinylphenols; they are respectively reduced to 4-ethylphenol (4-EP) and 4-ethylguaiacol (4-EG) by the vinylphenol reductase [8,9] Their organoleptic threshold in red wine is 605 and 110 mg/L, respectively for 4-EP and 4-EG [5,10]. Several authors have developed specific analytical methods to check metabolites responsible for wine spoilage [11] or to evaluate the population of these contaminant yeasts [12,13]
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