Not your ordinary yeast: non-Saccharomycesyeasts in wine production uncovered

Abstract

Saccharomyces cerevisiae and grape juice are 'natural companions' and make a happy wine marriage. However, this relationship can be enriched by allowing 'wild' non-Saccharomyces yeast to participate in a sequential manner in the early phases of grape must fermentation. However, such a triangular relationship is complex and can only be taken to 'the next level' if there are no spoilage yeast present and if the 'wine yeast' - S. cerevisiae - is able to exert its dominance in time to successfully complete the alcoholic fermentation. Winemakers apply various 'matchmaking' strategies (e.g. cellar hygiene, pH, SO2 , temperature and nutrient management) to keep 'spoilers' (e.g. Dekkera bruxellensis) at bay, and allow 'compatible' wild yeast (e.g. Torulaspora delbrueckii, Pichia kluyveri, Lachancea thermotolerans and Candida/Metschnikowia pulcherrima) to harmonize with potent S. cerevisiae wine yeast and bring the best out in wine. Mismatching can lead to a 'two is company, three is a crowd' scenario. More than 40 of the 1500 known yeast species have been isolated from grape must. In this article, we review the specific flavour-active characteristics of those non-Saccharomyces species that might play a positive role in both spontaneous and inoculated wine ferments. We seek to present 'single-species' and 'multi-species' ferments in a new light and a new context, and we raise important questions about the direction of mixed-fermentation research to address market trends regarding so-called 'natural' wines. This review also highlights that, despite the fact that most frontier research and technological developments are often focussed primarily on S. cerevisiae, non-Saccharomyces research can benefit from the techniques and knowledge developed by research on the former.

Use of Schizosaccharomyces strains for wine fermentation—Effect on the wine composition and food safety

“…Other authors have reported higher glycerol production for other non-Saccharomyces species (Comitini et al, 2011;Gobbi et al, 2013). Although other yeast species such as Candida stellata have been described as higher producers of glycerol up to 14 g/L (Jolly et al, 2014), the use of Schizosaccharomyces to improve this quality parameter could be interesting.…”

“…The world wine market is experiencing increasing interest in new yeast strains that can produce unique wines with novel properties (Benito et al, 2015a;Carrau et al, 2015;Englezos et al, 2015;Esteve-Zarzoso et al, 1998;Fleet, 2008;Jolly et al, 2014Jolly et al, , 2006Medina et al, 2013;Pretorius, 2000;Uthurry et al, 2004). This is the reason that certain non-Saccharomyces yeast, such as Schizosaccharomyces, which have the ability to lower the malic acid content of wine, could prove to be an excellent alternative to lactic acid bacteria and are currently viewed with much interest (Benito et al, 2015b(Benito et al, , 2014aFleet, 1999;Suárez-Lepe et al, 2012).…”

Effect of sequential inoculation (Torulaspora delbrueckii/Saccharomyces cerevisiae) in the first fermentation on the foam properties of sparkling wine (Cava)

“…It is also well know that the development of some non-Saccharomyces yeast such as Torulaspora delbrueckii during alcoholic fermentation can improve wine quality as well as their complexity [8,9]. Recently, our research group has proposed the use of T. delbrueckii as a tool for improving the foam properties in sparkling wine production [10].…”

Directed metabolomic approaches for the characterization and development of new yeast strains

“…Figure 1 shows that, according to several population studies on grape and must microbiome [4,15,31], Hanseniaspora uvarum was the most abundant nonSaccharomyces yeast found in must, being around a 50% of the total. Its low fermentative power causes the rapid decrease of H. uvarum during the early stages of wine fermentation, so besides its low production of hydrolytic enzymes, its influence on final wine composition is not significant.…”

“…Enzymatic properties of different microorganisms involved in winemaking process (bacteria and yeasts, mainly) have been studied for a long time [1], but yeasts have featured this applied research line as the main microorganism responsible of the alcoholic fermentation process [2][3][4][5].…”