Higher alcohols and esters production by Saccharomyces cerevisiae.: Influence of the initial oxygenation of the grape must

Saccharomyces cerevisiae, races cerevisiae and capensis were used to carry out fermentations of grape musts with and without initial oxygen, in order to study changes in the production of higher alcohols and esters. After fermentation of the musts without initial oxygen, both yeast races produced lesser concentrations of the earlier-mentioned compounds than those obtained for the musts fermented with initial oxygenation. However a better ratio between these two types of compounds was achieved in the must without initial oxygen, so a treatment eliminating the oxygen of the must could be used to improve the sensory properties of the resulting wine. (C) 2002 Published by Elsevier Science Ltd.