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The presence and distribution of genotypes from malolactic starter cultures between the autochthonous microbiota in fermenting Rioja wines have been studied in this paper. The commercial cultures characterization allowed to identify different species and common pulsed field gel electrophoresis and randomly amplified polymorphic DNA genotypes in several brands of Oenococcus oeni starter cultures. Four indistinguishable genotypes were found between the commercial and the autochthonous O. oeni strains. These four genotypes appeared during different vintages in seven of the 10 sampled wineries despite bacterial starter cultures had never been used. Therefore, the detection of commercial LAB genotypes indistinguishable from the autochthonous ones involved their removal from a selection process. These genotypes represented the 17.7% of autochthonous O. oeni isolated in this region during three consecutive years. This fact demonstrated that performing similar studies as previous selection criteria is advisable to avoid large work and the proposal of one commercialized bacteria., (Copyright © 2014 The Society for Biotechnology, Japan. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

The purpose of this paper was to study the effect of pulsed electric fields (PEF) on the stilbene content of three grape varieties. For this purpose, four different PEF treatments were applied using a continuous system over three varieties, Graciano, Tempranillo and Grenache, destemmed and crushed. In addition, the influence of PEF on their physicochemical composition was studied. PEF treatments did not affect the pH or total acidity of Graciano, however, musts from Tempranillo and Grenache had higher pH values and lower total acidity. In the three varieties, all treatments resulted in an increase of potassium content, deeper colour intensity and total polyphenol index and lower tonality, more pronounced in the treatments with higher time and energy. The stilbene content of the must significantly increased with respect to the control. This increase depended on the variety and the treatment applied. Tempranillo increased up 200% the total stilbene concentration, Grenache 60% and Graciano 50%. For the three varieties, the treatment with the highest time and energy was the most effective on the total stilbene extraction. These results indicate that PEF could be a suitable technology for obtaining musts with deeper colour and higher phenolic content, including resveratrol and piceid., (Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

A method has been developed to analyse the glycosidic aroma precursor of non aromatic red grapes in terms of glucose GG. Due to the matrix interferences, an extract free of glycosylated polyphenols (especially anthocyanins and flavonols) and free glucose has been prepared. Such interferences have been eliminated by combining the use of Oasis MCX SPE and Fehling reagent. The glycosyl aroma precursor's fraction was subjected to an acidic hydrolysis (pH 1, 100°C, 1h), where equimolecular proportions of glucose (glucose GG) were released from their respective aglycones and quantified HPLC-IR. Compared with methods that require detailed analysis of the volatile aglycones, this one is able to estimate with good reproducibility the potential aroma of grapes by the only measurement of glucose GG., (Copyright © 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

The aim of this work was to study the influence of nitrogen compounds on the formation of volatile compounds during the alcoholic fermentation carried out with 4 nonaromatic grape varieties collected at 2 different maturation stages. To do this, Monastrell, Merlot, Syrah, and Petit Verdot grapes were collected 1 wk before harvest and at harvest. Then, the musts were inoculated with the same Saccharomyces cerevisiae yeast strain and were fermented in the same winemaking conditions. Amino acids that showed the highest and the lowest concentration in the must were the same, regardless of the grape variety and maturation stage. Moreover, the consumption of amino acids during the fermentation increased with their concentration in the must. The formation of volatile compounds was not nitrogen composition dependent. However, the concentration of amino acids in the must from grapes collected 1 wk before harvest can be used as a parameter to estimate the concentration of esters in wines from grapes collected at harvest and therefore to have more information to know the grape oenological capacity. Application of principal components analysis (PCA) confirmed the possibility to estimate the concentration of esters in the wines with the concentration of nitrogen compounds in the must., (© 2011 Institute of Food Technologists®)

Volatile compounds from a commercial aqueous oak extract application to white Verdejo grapevines at veraison have been studied. Treated grapes under two types of formulation (25% and 100%) have been analyzed at the optimum maturation time, and winemaking was then subsequently carried out. The volatile compounds were analyzed by stir bar sorptive extraction-gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. The results suggest that after the grapevine treatments, grapes store the volatiles in the form of nonvolatile precursors, and some of the volatiles are released during the winemaking process, especially six months after the alcoholic fermentation. The sensory analysis shows that wines maintain the typical aroma properties of Verdejo wines at the end of fermentation; but after six months, the wine color is greener and more astringent, and, in terms of aroma, it has wooden notes as if the wine has been aged in oak barrels.

The aim of this work was to study the variability of 36 Saccharomyces cerevisiae wild strains isolated from different grape varieties and from two very distant zones, located in Northern and Southern Italy. The strains were differentiated on the basis of parameters of technological interest, such as resistance to antimicrobial compounds frequently present in wine, and the production of volatile aromatic compounds (VOC), determined by SPME procedure in the experimental wines obtained by inoculated fermentations. The VOC profile allowed to differentiate the yeasts in function of isolation area: S. cerevisiae isolated from Southern Italy grapes were able to produce more volatile compounds than those from Northern Italy. The compounds synthesized by all the yeasts, besides the ethanol, were 3-methyl-1-butanol and ethyl acetate. The production of acids during the alcoholic fermentation was a characteristic of Southern yeast strains. The screening of S. cerevisiae strains for technological parameters, such as sulphur dioxide, copper and ethanol resistance or hydrogen sulphide production, revealed similar behaviour for sulphur dioxide resistance among Northern and Southern S. cerevisiae strains. Copper resistance and sulphur dioxide production were correlated to isolation area: S. cerevisiae "Northern" strains showed higher copper resistance and lowest hydrogen sulphide production than that exhibited from "Southern" strains.

The aim of this work was to study the evolution of amino acids and ammonium during grape ripening and to evaluate its application to differentiate grape varieties and cultivated systems (organic and nonorganic). For this purpose, Monastrell, Syrah, Merlot, and Petit Verdot grapes produced using conventional agriculture and Monastrell grape cultivated using organic agriculture, collected during two consecutive harvests at different stages of ripening, were studied. These years of harvest were very different climatic years; even so, the grape varieties presented similar qualitative compositions. Therefore, the percentage of amino acids at harvest moment allowed differentiation of grapes according to variety and cultivated system, regardless of the year. The nitrogen composition could allow estimation of the fermentative aroma potential of grapes. Thus, Syrah was the grape with the greatest aroma potential at harvest. Monastrell nonorganic grape had a concentration of nitrogen compounds superior to that of Monastrell organic grape. In Monastrell, Syrah, and Merlot, traditional varieties in the area, the highest concentration of nitrogen compounds coincided with the highest degrees Baume/total acidity ratio and color index during 2007. Consequently, technological and phenolic maturity of these grape varieties coincided with the maximum composition of nitrogen compounds. However, in 2008, this did not happen because grape ripening was irregular as a consequence of different climatological conditions.