Macrowine 2021
IVES 9 IVES Conference Series 9 Assessment of wine non-Saccharomyces yeast strains as promising producers of glutathione

Assessment of wine non-Saccharomyces yeast strains as promising producers of glutathione

Abstract

AIM: Glutathione (GSH) is a non-protein thiol naturally present in grape berries and produced by yeasts during fermentation. It has a strong antioxidant activity, thus can be added during winemaking to limit the oxidative phenomena of wine, preserving sensory characteristics and stability, ultimately promoting a healthier product by reducing the need for SO2 addition. A promising alternative approach could be the use of yeast starter cultures high-producers of this compound in situ, during the fermentation process, in substitution of external GSH addition. Since this activity in non-Saccharomyces yeasts is currently poorly investigated, the aim of this research was to evaluate the ability of three strains of non-Saccharomyces (NS) yeasts to produce GSH, both in synthetic media and in fresh grape must.

METHODS: Lachancea thermotolerans SOL13, Metschnikowia sp. FIANO12, and Starmerella bacillaris MALV45 were tested in single or sequential inoculations,with Saccharomyces cerevisiae EC1118, in synthetic grape juice (SGJ) or in Pinot Grigio grape must, under static conditions, or in a medium optimized for GSH production (MGSH) in agitation (200 rpm). GSH concentration was determined using the Glutathione Assay Kit (Sigma-Aldrich). Population dynamics was evaluated by plate count and biomass dry weight, and fermentation kinetics through weight loss measurement.

RESULTS: A variability in GSH production was found among individual strains and growth conditions. Metschnikowia sp. FIANO12 showed the highest intracellular accumulation of GSH when cultivated alone in both synthetic media, and, as expected, higher levels in the optimized MGSH than in SGJ (4.59 vs. 0.19 nmol GSH/mg cells, respectively). In wine, fermentations with S. bacillaris MALV45 had the highest concentration of intracellular GSH, but the lowest content of wine-dissolved GSH. The maximum level of extracellular GSH (21 mg/L) was obtained in the sequential fermentation with L. thermotolerans SOL13, a significant increase compared to the control singly inoculated with S. cerevisiae.

CONCLUSIONS:

This study highlights a new potential interesting feature of NS yeasts to positively modify wine composition. The tested native strains, with previously demonstrated interesting oenological traits, showed a good capacity to accumulate GSH and to increase the concentration of this antioxidant compound in wine. Thus, the strategy of multi-starter fermentation can be a valuable tool to achieve a lower input winemaking. Future investigations are needed to assess the long-term stability of wine made from multi-starter fermentations with NS yeasts producers of GSH.ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS: We thank Nicolò Bersani for laboratory assistance.

DOI:

Publication date: September 3, 2021

Issue: Macrowine 2021

Type: Article

Authors

Renato L. Binati, Wilson J.F. LEMOS JUNIOR, Sandra TORRIANI

Department of Biotechnology, University of Verona, Italy, Department of Biotechnology, University of Verona, Italy, Department of Biotechnology, University of Verona, Italy

Contact the author

Keywords

Glutathione production, multi-starter fermentation, non-saccharomyces yeasts, saccharomycescerevisiae, winemaking, wine quality

Citation

Related articles…

Use of a new, miniaturized, low-cost spectral sensor to estimate and map the vineyard water status from a mobile 

Optimizing the use of water and improving irrigation strategies has become increasingly important in most winegrowing countries due to the consequences of climate change, which are leading to more frequent droughts, heat waves, or alteration of precipitation patterns. Optimized irrigation scheduling can only be based on a reliable knowledge of the vineyard water status.

In this context, this work aims at the development of a novel methodology, using a contactless, miniaturized, low-cost NIR spectral tool to monitor (on-the-go) the vineyard water status variability. On-the-go spectral measurements were acquired in the vineyard using a NIR micro spectrometer, operating in the 900–1900 nm spectral range, from a ground vehicle moving at 3 km/h. Spectral measurements were collected on the northeast side of the canopy across four different dates (July 8th, 14th, 21st and August 12th) during 2021 season in a commercial vineyard (3 ha). Grapevines of Vitis vinifera L. Graciano planted on a VSP trellis were monitored at solar noon using stem water potential (Ψs) as reference indicators of plant water status. In total, 108 measurements of Ψs were taken (27 vines per date).

Calibration and prediction models were performed using Partial Least Squares (PLS) regression. The best prediction models for grapevine water status yielded a determination coefficient of cross-validation (r2cv) of 0.67 and a root mean square error of cross-validation (RMSEcv) of 0.131 MPa. This predictive model was employed to map the spatial variability of the vineyard water status and provided useful, practical information towards the implementation of appropriate irrigation strategies. The outcomes presented in this work show the great potential of this low-cost methodology to assess the vineyard stem water potential and its spatial variability in a commercial vineyard.

Local ancient grapevine cultivars to face future viticulture

Among the different strategies to cope with the negative impacts of climate change on viticulture, the exploitation of genetic diversity is one of the most promising to adapt to new conditions and maintain wine production and quality. One of the biggest concerns in the context of climate change is to improve water use efficiency (WUE). In this way, the use of genotypes that present a better response to drought and high WUE is a key issue. In this work, physiological performance analysis was conducted to compare the water deficit stress (WDS) responses of local and widespread grapevines cultivars. Leaf gas exchange, water use efficiency (WUE) at different levels (leaf and long-term WUE (∆13C)), leaf osmotic adjustment and other water relations parameters were determined in plants under well-watered and WDS conditions alongside assessment of the levels of foliar hormones concentrations. Results denote that local cultivars displayed better physiological performance under WDS as compared to the widely-distributed ones. he results corroborate the hypothesis that better stomatal control allows increasing leaf WUE under drought as occurred in the local Callet cv.; but the minority local cultivar Escursac cv. showed high WUE under both treatments. In this case, high WUE can be related to maintaining higher photosynthetic activity under drought. The different mechanisms underlying the better performance under WDS and high WUE of minority local cultivars are discussed.

Effect of partial net shading on the temperature and radiation in the grapevine canopy, consequences on the grape quality of cv. Gros Manseng in PDO Pacherenc-du-vic-Bilh

As elsewhere, southwestern France vineyards face more recurrent summer heat waves these last years. Among the possibilities of adaptation to this climate changing parameter, the use of net shading is a technique that allow for limiting canopy exposure to radiations. In this trial, we tested net shading installed on one face of the canopy, on a north-south row-oriented plot of cv. Gros Manseng trained on VSP system in the PDO Pacherenc-du-Vic-Bilh. The purpose was to characterize the effects on the ambient canopy temperatures and radiations during the season and to observe the consequences on the composition of grapes and wines. Two sorts of net were used with two levels of obstruction (50% and 75%) of the photosynthesis active radiation (PAR). They have been installed on the west side of the canopy and compared to a netless control. Temperature and PAR sensors registered hourly data during the season. On specific summer day (hot and sunny) manual measurements took also place on bunches (temperature) and in different spots of the canopy (PAR). The results showed that, on clear days, the radiation is lowered by the shade nets respecting the supplier criteria. The effects on the ambient canopy temperature were inconstant on this plot when we observed the data from the global period of shading between fruit set and harvest. However, during hot days (>30°C), the temperature in the canopy was reduced during afternoon and the temperature of the bunch surface was reduced as well comparing to the control. A decrease of the maturity parameters of the berries, sugar and acidity, was also observed. Concerning the wine aromatic potential, no differences clearly appeared.

VINIoT – Precision viticulture service

The project VINIoT pursues the creation of a new technological vineyard monitoring service, which will allow companies in the wine sector in the SUDOE space to monitor plantations in real time and remotely at various levels of precision. The system is based on spectral images and an IoT architecture that allows assessing parameters of interest viticulture and the collection of data at a precise scale (level of grape, plant, plot or vineyard) will be designed. In France, three subjects were specifically developed: evaluation of maturity, of water stress, and detection of flavescence dorée. For the evaluation of maturity, it has been decided first to work at the berry scale in the laboratory, then at the bunch scale and finally in the vineyard. The acquisition of the spectral hyperstal image as well as the reference analyzes to measure the maturity, were carried out in the laboratory after harvesting the berries in a maturity monitoring context. This work focuses on a case study to predict sugar content of three different grape varieties: Syrah, Fer Servadou and Mauzac. A robust method called Roboost-PLSR, developed in the framework of this work (Courand et al., 2022), to improve prediction model performance was applied on spectra after the acquirement of hyperspectral images. Regarding the evaluation of water stress, to work with a significant variability in terms of water status, it has been worked first with potted plants under 2 different water regimes. The facilities have allowed the supervision of irrigation and micro-climatic conditions. The regression models on agronomic variables (stomatal conductance, water potential, …) are studied. To detect flavescence dorée, the experimental plan has consisted of work at leaf scale in the laboratory first, and then in the field. To detect the disease from hyper-spectral imaging, a combination of multivariate curve resolution-alternating least squares (MCR-ALS) and factorial discriminant analysis (FDA) was proposed. This strategy proved the potential towards the discrimination of healthy and infected leaves by flavescence dorée based on the use of hyperspectral images (Mas Garcia et al., 2021).

Different soil types and relief influence the quality of Merlot grapes in a relatively small area in the Vipava Valley (Slovenia) in relation to the vine water status

Besides location and microclimatic conditions, soil plays an important role in the quality of grapes and wine. Soil properties influence…