Schizosaccharomyces japonicus: A Polysaccharide-Overproducing Yeast to Be Used in Winemaking

Abstract

Abstract:Mixed starter cultures made of Saccharomyces cerevisiae EC1118 and Schizosaccharomyces japonicus #13 were inoculated in commercial grape must, and the impact of different inoculum ratios (1:1; 1:100; 1:10,000) on growth and fermentation kinetics and on the analytical profiles of the experimental wines was here evaluated. Results obtained showed that S. japonicus #13 affects S. cerevisiae growth and fermentative capability only for S. cerevisiae/S. japonicus inoculum ratio 1:10,000. The analytical profiles of the wines produced by mixed starter cultures indicated that this non-Saccharomyces yeast modulates the concentration of malic and acetic acids and of some of the most important volatile compounds, such as β-phenyl ethanol, in an inoculum-ratio-dependent fashion. Moreover, all experimental wines obtained with S. japonicus #13 in mixed cultures reached concentrations of total polysaccharides significantly higher than those obtained with pure cultures of S. cerevisiae EC1118, and total polysaccharides increased with the increase of S. japonicus #13 cell concentration. Based on these results, S. japonicus #13 might be profitably inoculated in combination with S. cerevisiae EC1118 to enhance wine complexity and aroma and to improve wine stability by increasing the final concentration of polysaccharides.

Volatile Profile of Mead Fermenting Blossom Honey and Honeydew Honey with or without Ribes nigrum

“…The number of identified VOCs increased in post-fermentation samples since some VOCs are produced by the yeasts during the alcoholic fermentation [30]. At least 18 compounds produced by the yeasts during the fermentation process were found, being mainly alcohols and esters ( Figure 2), already described as the products of S. cerevisiae EC1118 fermentation [31,32]. As reported in the literature, it is well known that yeasts are VOCs producers; in wine, the main groups of compounds that form the fermentation bouquet are the acids, alcohols, and esters and, to a lesser extent, aldehydes and ketones [33].…”

Schizosaccharomyces pombe: A Promising Biotechnology for Modulating Wine Composition

“…They conclude that all the Schizosaccharomyces strains studied released a quantity of polysaccharides approximately 3 to 7 times higher than that released by a commercial Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Subsequent studies have obtained similar results, underlining the polysaccharide overproduction of yeast belonging to the Schizosaccharomyces genus [67].…”

The Impact of Non-Saccharomyces Yeast on Traditional Method Sparkling Wine

“…Alcoholic fermentation for winemaking is usually carried out by inoculating the juice Saccharomyces cerevisiae yeast, the most widely used yeast, often referred to as "conventional" wine yeast. Throughout the past decade, "non-conventional" yeasts have become popular [15] and the effects of non-Saccharomyces yeasts on wine quality has been extensively studied [16]. Traditionally, only negative impacts of non-Saccharomyces were investigated, since they were believed to be reason for the microbial-related problems during winemaking.…”

“…Further studies have investigated specific effects of non-Saccharomyces yeast on wine quality. The yeasts that were studied include Hanseniaspora uvarum [31,32], Hanseniaspora vineae [26,33], Torulaspora delbrueckii [34][35][36][37][38], M. pulcherrima [29,[39][40][41], Starmerella bacillaris [22,42], Schizosaccharomyces pombe [43,44], Schizosaccharomyces japonicus [16], Lachancea thermotolerans [29,40,45], Zygotorulaspora florentina [46], P. kluvyeri [22,47], and Zygosaccharomyces bailii [48,49].…”

“…The effect of H. uvarum in mixed fermentations with S. cerevisiae found that simultaneous fermentations and extracellular extract of H. uvarum, improved the overall quality of wine aromas, by increasing fruity and floral traits and enhancing terpenes, C13-norisoprenoids, acetate esters, ethyl esters and fatty acids [32]. Romani et al [16] studied the effect of S. japonicus and found that the sequential fermentation with S. cerevisiae enhanced wine complexity and aroma by increasing higher alcohols (isobutanol, amylic and isoamylic alcohols), acetate esters (isoamyl acetate, phenyl ethyl acetate) and alcohols (β-phenyl ethanol) above their threshold levels. The effect of co-inoculation of T. delbrueckii and S. cerevisiae on Moscato Branco sparkling wines found that wines produced from co-fermentation had higher concentrations of 2-phenyl ethanol, acetate and ethyl esters with fruity and flowery descriptors while a decrease in concentration of undesirable compounds such as volatile fatty acids occurred [38].…”