Analyzing the minor volatilome of Torulaspora delbrueckii in an alcoholic fermentation

Torulaspora delbrueckii is an emerging yeast species in the beverage and food industry that is suitable for alcoholic fermentation and to improve the organoleptic quality of wine, beer, mead, and other beverages. Modern consumer preference toward new flavors and products drives the application of T. delbrueckii to ferment less traditional fruits and vegetables. Thus, it has become increasingly relevant to define those metabolites produced in minute quantities by T. delbrueckii, because they may have an impact when producing these new alcoholic beverages. In this study, we have identified metabolites of T. delbrueckii and have compared them with those of Saccharomyces cerevisiae in a controlled setting with a synthetic, high glucose medium using gas chromatography coupled to flame ionization detector (GC-FID) and stir bar sorptive extraction (SBSE) with GC coupled to mass spectrometry (MS). Results showed that T. delbrueckii produced metabolites with higher changes in odor activity complexes than S. cerevisiae: ethyl propanoate, 1,1-diethoxyethane, ethyl isobutyrate, ethyl butyrate, isoamyl acetate, ethyl heptanoate, nonanal, and decanal. We also report seven metabolites detected for the first time in T. delbrueckii. This datum serves to expand the knowledge of T. delbrueckii performance and shows that application of this yeast species is more suitable to a wide array of beverage producers.

Automated summary

Torulaspora delbrueckii is an emerging yeast species suitable for alcoholic fermentation and improving the organoleptic quality of various beverages. Compared to Saccharomyces cerevisiae, T. delbrueckii produces metabolites with higher odor activity complexes, making it more suitable for a wide array of beverage producers.