Malolactic fermentation (MLF), the bacterial conversion of L-malic into L-lactic acid and carbon dioxide, is encouraged, especially for red wines, to eliminate the taste of malic acid, to decrease the acidity of the wine and to assure the biological stability of wines. However, indigenous lactic acid bacteria (LAB) can start spontaneous MLF after the alcoholic fermentation (AF), affecting negatively wine quality. A controlled MLF can be achieved with inoculation of selected LAB. Oenococcus oeni is the LAB that occurs naturally in wine. It is the dominant bacterial species found during the MLF, being well adapted to the harsh wine conditions, and it possesses the finest oenological malolactic characteristics. The key criteria to select O. oeni strains suitable for MLF are mainly related to (i) the ability to tolerate the harsh conditions encountered during wine fermentation (e.g., low pH, high ethanol concentration and sulphites tolerance, resistance to specific bacteriophages), (ii) physiological and biochemical properties (e.g., high malolactic activity, production of volatile compounds, growth rate, interaction with yeasts responsible of AF) and (iii) technological (e.g., resistance to freeze-drying) properties. Usually, oenological proprieties of O. oeni are strain-specific and this feature might influence differently the aromatic compounds of wine. In this work, a linkeage between stress markers and technological properties of indigenous O. oeni strains isolated from red wines deriving from “Nero di Troia” grapes, an autochthonous Apulian grape variety is reported. The Apulian wine production is characterized by quantity rather than quality, thus the improvement of MLF performances represents one of the key levers to reverse this negative tendence.

Biodiversity, robustness and technological properties of on demand Oenococcus oeni strains

CAPOZZI, VITTORIO;SPANO, GIUSEPPE
2012-01-01

Abstract

Malolactic fermentation (MLF), the bacterial conversion of L-malic into L-lactic acid and carbon dioxide, is encouraged, especially for red wines, to eliminate the taste of malic acid, to decrease the acidity of the wine and to assure the biological stability of wines. However, indigenous lactic acid bacteria (LAB) can start spontaneous MLF after the alcoholic fermentation (AF), affecting negatively wine quality. A controlled MLF can be achieved with inoculation of selected LAB. Oenococcus oeni is the LAB that occurs naturally in wine. It is the dominant bacterial species found during the MLF, being well adapted to the harsh wine conditions, and it possesses the finest oenological malolactic characteristics. The key criteria to select O. oeni strains suitable for MLF are mainly related to (i) the ability to tolerate the harsh conditions encountered during wine fermentation (e.g., low pH, high ethanol concentration and sulphites tolerance, resistance to specific bacteriophages), (ii) physiological and biochemical properties (e.g., high malolactic activity, production of volatile compounds, growth rate, interaction with yeasts responsible of AF) and (iii) technological (e.g., resistance to freeze-drying) properties. Usually, oenological proprieties of O. oeni are strain-specific and this feature might influence differently the aromatic compounds of wine. In this work, a linkeage between stress markers and technological properties of indigenous O. oeni strains isolated from red wines deriving from “Nero di Troia” grapes, an autochthonous Apulian grape variety is reported. The Apulian wine production is characterized by quantity rather than quality, thus the improvement of MLF performances represents one of the key levers to reverse this negative tendence.
2012
9782100575961
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Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/11369/143745
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