Modelling of S. cerevisiae and T. delbrueckii pure culture fermentation in synthetic media using a compartmental nitrogen model

Aim: The objective of the present work is to propose a model describing the evolution of the pure culture fermentation of two oenological yeasts: S. cerevisiae and T. delbrueckii. Methods and results: For both yeasts, pure culture fermentation was performed in a synthetic medium with different initial concentrations of yeast available nitrogen. The datasets obtained from those experiments were used to identify the parameters of the proposed model. Conclusions: The developed comprehensive model of wine-making fermentation is based on the partition of assimilated nitrogen between the constitutive and the storage compartments. It efficiently describes the evolution of S. cerevisiae and T. delbrueckii pure cultures. This mass-balance model provides a stoichiometric approach in biomass production, unlike nitrogen backboned models used in winemaking. Moreover, it gives an estimation of non-accessed data such as nitrogen partition between vacuole and cytosol during T. delbrueckii fermentation. Significance and impact of the study: The developed model is robust enough to precisely describe the fermentation evolution of two pure culture yeasts and therefore has future potential for modelling mixed culture fermentations of S. cerevisiae and T. delbrueckii.