Flavour-active wine yeasts.

TitleFlavour-active wine yeasts.
Publication TypeJournal Article
Year of Publication2012
AuthorsCordente, AG, Curtin, CD, Varela, C, Pretorius, IS
JournalAppl Microbiol Biotechnol
Volume96
Issue3
Pagination601-18
Date Published2012 Nov
ISSN1432-0614
KeywordsSaccharomyces cerevisiae, Volatile Organic Compounds, Wine
Abstract

The flavour of fermented beverages such as beer, cider, saké and wine owe much to the primary fermentation yeast used in their production, Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Where once the role of yeast in fermented beverage flavour was thought to be limited to a small number of volatile esters and higher alcohols, the discovery that wine yeast release highly potent sulfur compounds from non-volatile precursors found in grapes has driven researchers to look more closely at how choice of yeast can influence wine style. This review explores recent progress towards understanding the range of 'flavour phenotypes' that wine yeast exhibit, and how this knowledge has been used to develop novel flavour-active yeasts. In addition, emerging opportunities to augment these phenotypes by engineering yeast to produce so-called grape varietal compounds, such as monoterpenoids, will be discussed.

DOI10.1007/s00253-012-4370-z
Alternate JournalAppl. Microbiol. Biotechnol.
PubMed ID22940803
PubMed Central IDPMC3466427