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Yeast and bacterial inoculation practices influence the microbial communities of barrel‐fermented Chardonnay wines
Author(s) -
Tantikachornkiat M.,
Morgan S.C.,
Lepitre M.,
Cliff M.A.,
Durall D.M.
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
australian journal of grape and wine research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.65
H-Index - 77
eISSN - 1755-0238
pISSN - 1322-7130
DOI - 10.1111/ajgw.12438
Subject(s) - oenococcus oeni , torulaspora delbrueckii , winemaking , yeast , malolactic fermentation , biology , wine , food science , inoculation , microbial population biology , fermentation , microbiology and biotechnology , saccharomyces cerevisiae , bacteria , saccharomyces , horticulture , lactic acid , biochemistry , genetics
Background and Aims During winemaking, alcoholic and malolactic fermentations are usually conducted by strains of Saccharomyces cerevisiae and Oenococcus oeni , respectively. Although most commercial wines are produced via inoculation with both yeast and bacteria, uninoculated fermentations can increase microbial diversity, leading to more complex wines. In this study, Chardonnay must was subjected to a combination of inoculation treatments with S. cerevisiae and O. oeni in order to investigate how yeast and bacterial inoculation may impact the microbial communities of these wines. Methods and Results Yeast and bacterial community dynamics, and S. cerevisiae and O. oeni populations, were monitored at different fermentation stages. Yeast inoculation practices altered the yeast community and S. cerevisiae strains; wines left uninoculated had a higher diversity of S. cerevisiae strains and contained an increased abundance of Torulaspora delbrueckii . The inoculated O. oeni strain dominated the treatments to which it was added, but the uninoculated wines contained unique O. oeni populations, including potentially indigenous dominant strains. Conclusions Uninoculated wines contained a greater diversity of yeast and bacteria than inoculated wines, including more indigenous/non‐commercial species and strains. Significance of the Study These results highlight the importance of identifying the entire microbial community in fermentations, at both the species and strain level.