Succinic acid production by wine yeasts and the influence of GABA and glutamic acid

• Published in: International microbiology Vol. 27; no. 2; pp. 505 - 512
• Main Authors: Torres-Guardado, Rafael, Rozès, Nicolás, Esteve-Zarzoso, Braulio, Reguant, Cristina, Bordons, Albert
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Cham Springer International Publishing 01-04-2024; Spanish Society for Microbiology
• Subjects: Acid production; Amino Acids; Applied Microbiology; Biomedical and Life Sciences; Eukaryotic Microbiology; Fermentation; gamma-Aminobutyric Acid - metabolism; Glutamic acid; Glutamic Acid - metabolism; Life Sciences; Malolactic fermentation; Medical Microbiology; Microbial Ecology; Microbiology; Oenococcus - metabolism; Saccharomyces; Saccharomyces cerevisiae - metabolism; Succinic acid; Succinic Acid - metabolism; Wine; Wine - analysis; Wine - microbiology; Wines; Yeast; Yeasts; Yeasts - metabolism; γ-Aminobutyric acid; Wine; GABA; Succinic acid; Glutamic acid; Yeast; Non; Non-Saccharomyces
• ISSN: 1618-1905; 1139-6709; 1618-1905
• DOI: 10.1007/s10123-023-00410-9

As a consequence of alcoholic fermentation (AF) in wine, several compounds are released by yeasts, and some of them are linked to the general quality and mouthfeel perceptions in wine. However, others, such as succinic acid, act as inhibitors, mainly of malolactic fermentation. Succinic acid is produced by non-
Saccharomyces
and
Saccharomyces
yeasts during the initial stages of AF, and the presence of some amino acids such as γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA) and glutamic acid can increase the concentration of succinic acid. However, the influence of these amino acids on succinic acid production has been studied very little to date. In this work, we studied the production of succinic acid by different strains of non-
Saccharomyces
and
Saccharomyces
yeasts during AF in synthetic must, and the influence of the addition of GABA or glutamic acid or a combination of both. The results showed that succinic acid can be produced by non-
Saccharomyces
yeasts with values in the range of 0.2–0.4 g/L. Moreover, the addition of GABA or glutamic acid can increase the concentration of succinic acid produced by some strains to almost 100 mg/L more than the control, while other strains produce less. Consequently, higher succinic acid production by non-
Saccharomyces
yeast in coinoculated fermentations with
S. cerevisiae
strains could represent a risk of inhibiting
Oenococcus oeni
and therefore the MLF.