Contribution of wild yeasts to the formation of volatile compounds in inoculated wine fermentations

The aim of this work was to study the contribution of wild yeasts to the volatile composition of wine in inoculated fermentations. To do so, Parellada must, sterilized and inoculated with Saccharomyces cerevisiae strain Na33 (pure inoculated fermentation), inoculated Parellada must (mixed inoculated fermentation) and Parellada must that fermented with its wild yeasts (control fermentation) were used. From the results obtained in the pure inoculated fermentation it can be seen that S. cerevisiae produced appreciable quantities of isoamyl acetate, ethyl hexanoate, ethyl octanoate, and ethyl decanoate. However, the wild yeasts also contributed to the synthesis of esters since the total concentration of these substances was higher in the mixed inoculated fermentation than in the pure inoculated fermentation. 2-Phenylethyl acetate was only synthesized by wild yeasts when they did not compete with S. cerevisiae. The concentration of total alcohols was similar in the three samples; the important production of isobutanol and 2-phenylethanol in the control fermentation is noteworthy. As regards the acids, the greatest concentration corresponded to the mixed inoculated fermentation. The wild yeasts contributed to the synthesis of these compounds to a significant extent and S. cerevisiae synthesized appreciable amounts of short-chain fatty acids.