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Inhibition of bacterial growth and malolactic fermentation in wine by bacteriophage
Author(s) -
HenickKling T.,
Lee T. H.,
Nicholas D. J. D.
Publication year - 1986
Publication title -
journal of applied bacteriology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.889
H-Index - 156
eISSN - 1365-2672
pISSN - 0021-8847
DOI - 10.1111/j.1365-2672.1986.tb04289.x
Subject(s) - malolactic fermentation , starter , wine , bacteriophage , leuconostoc , oenococcus oeni , fermentation , microbiology and biotechnology , biology , food science , fermentation starter , lees , bacteria , lytic cycle , chemistry , biochemistry , virus , escherichia coli , virology , lactic acid , lactobacillus , gene , genetics
Bacteriophage present in wine can attack bacterial starter cultures and inhibit the malolactic fermentation. The possibility of starter culture failure due to phage attack was studied in a commercial dry red wine of pH 3·23, inoculated with a multiple strain starter culture. During two stages of malolactic fermentation, bacterial growth and malate degradation in the wine were inhibited. A phage capable of lysing isolates of Leuconostoc oenos was isolated from the wine. The isolated phage had an icosahedral head of 42–45 nm diameter and a flexible, regularly cross‐striated tail 197–207 nm long with a small baseplate. The results confirm that phage can attack bacterial starter cultures in wine at low pH.