Innovative Strategies for the Management of Wine Fermentations: 2nd Edition

A special issue of Fermentation (ISSN 2311-5637). This special issue belongs to the section "Fermentation for Food and Beverages".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 September 2025 | Viewed by 2964

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FoodMicroTeam S.r.l. Spin off, Università degli Studi di Firenze, Florence, Italy
Interests: wine; microbial diversity; food fermentation; food microbiology
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Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Wine fermentation can be carried out spontaneously by the microbial populations naturally associated with the grapes and the cellar or using selected microbial starters. In any case, the adequate management of the fermentation processes is essential for obtaining quality wines with the desired sensory characteristics. The management of spontaneous fermentation processes can be achieved by exploiting predictive microbiology. In winemaking, mathematical models have been used for monitoring yeast growth during alcoholic fermentation or predicting the contamination of grapes by mycotoxin-producing fungi over recent years, even if the potentiality of this approach in wine microbiology is still little employed. Fermentation management using starter preparations is the most widespread. A careful selection of the strains is required to make this approach efficient. This approach is fundamental for the production of wines obtained with innovative processes, without added sulphur dioxide, with chemical–physical characteristics that make malolactic fermentation difficult, and with high sugar content in the starting grape must or “special wines” like liqueur wines or sparkling wine. This Special Issue addresses and encourages the submission of manuscripts that cover a wide range of novel approaches, solutions, and methods for managing wine fermentation processes.

Dr. Simona Guerrini
Guest Editor

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Keywords

  • wine fermentations
  • malolactic fermentation
  • winemaking
  • wine quality
  • microbial starters
  • predictive microbiology
  • yeasts
  • lactic acid bacteria

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Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

17 pages, 2202 KiB  
Article
Specific Point Mutations in the RRT5 Gene Modulate Fermentative Phenotypes of an Industrial Wine Yeast
by Camila Bastías, Yosbany Pérez, Eduardo I. Kessi-Pérez, José Manuel Guillamón and Claudio Martínez
Fermentation 2025, 11(2), 88; https://doi.org/10.3390/fermentation11020088 - 10 Feb 2025
Viewed by 787
Abstract
Saccharomyces cerevisiae is a yeast species of industrial importance due to its role in the production of several alcoholic beverages, including wine. During wine fermentation, S. cerevisiae must be able to cope with several stresses, such as limited nitrogen availability; nitrogen deficiencies in [...] Read more.
Saccharomyces cerevisiae is a yeast species of industrial importance due to its role in the production of several alcoholic beverages, including wine. During wine fermentation, S. cerevisiae must be able to cope with several stresses, such as limited nitrogen availability; nitrogen deficiencies in grape must could lead to stuck or sluggish fermentations, generating for the wine industry significant economic losses. A microbiological alternative to this problem is the generation of yeast strains with low nitrogen requirements for fermentation. In this context, it is important to study the natural diversity regarding adaptation to low nitrogen conditions, especially in terms of searching for beneficial alleles with potential industrial applications. In the present work, we validated the impact of specific SNPs present in the RRT5 gene in an industrial genetic background (T73 strain), analyzing both growth kinetics under microculture conditions and fermentative phenotypes in a larger volume. In this way, we were able to validate that these SNPs do indeed have an impact on the growth kinetics and fermentative capabilities of this strain, although the particular effect depends on the type of must used (synthetic or natural) and the nitrogen content (limiting or non-limiting). In particular, one mutation (601A>C) caused slower fermentation kinetics in the nitrogen-limited natural must but did not affect the ethanol produced or the amount of sugars consumed, in addition to producing more glycerol and consuming less phenylalanine, which could have a positive impact on the organoleptic properties of the wine produced and therefore an industrial potential. To our knowledge, this is the first work linking RRT5 to fermentative phenotypes, and the genetic variants validated could have industrial potential for the wine industry. Full article
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15 pages, 2627 KiB  
Article
Wine Yeast Strains Under Ethanol-Induced Stress: Morphological and Physiological Responses
by Elisa Aiello, Mattia Pia Arena, Luciana De Vero, Carlo Montanini, Michele Bianchi, Andrea Mescola, Andrea Alessandrini, Andrea Pulvirenti and Maria Gullo
Fermentation 2024, 10(12), 631; https://doi.org/10.3390/fermentation10120631 - 11 Dec 2024
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1536
Abstract
During alcoholic fermentation, ethanol accumulation significantly impacts yeast cells by disrupting membrane integrity, increasing permeability, and reducing cell viability. This study evaluated the effects of ethanol stress on the growth, membrane fluidity, and cell surface morphology of Saccharomyces cerevisiae and non-Saccharomyces yeast [...] Read more.
During alcoholic fermentation, ethanol accumulation significantly impacts yeast cells by disrupting membrane integrity, increasing permeability, and reducing cell viability. This study evaluated the effects of ethanol stress on the growth, membrane fluidity, and cell surface morphology of Saccharomyces cerevisiae and non-Saccharomyces yeast strains, specifically Torulaspora delbrueckii and Metschnikowia pulcherrima. These strains, commercialized by AEB SpA and preserved at the Unimore Microbial Culture Collection (UMCC), were tested for fermentative performance in grape must and grown under varying ethanol concentrations. Membrane fluidity was measured using Laurdan generalized polarization (GP), while Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) assessed cell surface morphology. Results indicated that at 10% ethanol, membrane fluidity increased, particularly in strains able to tolerate up to 16% ethanol, which also demonstrated superior fermentative performance. Less tolerant strains, such as T. delbrueckii UMCC 5 and M. pulcherrima UMCC 15, showed smaller increases in fluidity. At 18% ethanol, these strains exhibited severely altered surface morphology and larger surface roughness values, suggesting increased instability under high ethanol stress, while more tolerant strains displayed better-preserved surface morphology and lower roughness values, reflecting enhanced adaptability. These findings offer insights into yeast responses to ethanol stress, supporting the development of more resilient strains for improved fermentation. Full article
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