Growth and fermentation patterns of Saccharomyces cerevisiae under different ammonium concentrations and its implications in winemaking industry

Abstract

Aims: To study the effects of assimilable nitrogen concentration on growth profile and on fermentation kinetics of Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Methods and Results: Saccharomyces cerevisiae was grown in batch in a defined medium with glucose (200 g l )1 )as the only carbon and energy source, and nitrogen supplied as ammonium sulphate or phosphate forms under different concentrations. The initial nitrogen concentration in the media had no effect on specific growth rates of the yeast strain PYCC 4072. However, fermentation rate and the time required for completion of the alcoholic fermentation were strongly dependent on nitrogen availability. At the stationary phase, the addition of ammonium was effective in increasing cell population, fermentation rate and ethanol. Conclusions:The yeast strain required a minimum of 267 mg N l )1 to attain complete dryness of media, within the time considered for the experiments. Lower levels were enough to support growth, although leading to sluggish or stuck fermentation. Significance and Impact of the Study: The findings reported here contribute to elucidate the role of nitrogen on growth and fermentation performance of wine yeast. This information might be useful to the wine industry where excessive addition of nitrogen to prevent sluggish or stuck fermentation might have a negative impact on wine stability and quality.

Accumulation of Non-Superoxide Anion Reactive Oxygen Species Mediates Nitrogen-Limited Alcoholic Fermentation by Saccharomyces cerevisiae

“…1). These results are in agreement with the previous characterization of fermentation profiles applying similar nitrogen conditions although under a microaerophilic environment (22,23).…”

“…In comparison to the control fermentation, nitrogen-limiting conditions promoted a persistent cell cycle arrest in phases G 0 /G 1 at 48 h when nitrogen was completely exhausted from the medium (22,23) (Fig. 5B).…”

Molecular and Phenotypic Characterization of Metschnikowia pulcherrima Strains from Douro Wine Region

“…M. pulcherrima Mp39 behaved similarly under both initial nitrogen concentrations tested, reaching maximum cell population of 1-3 × 10 7 CFU/mL in single, that were sustained until the fermentations were stopped. As described for S. cerevisiae [52,80], nitrogen seems not to be a limiting factor for Mp39 growth, since no significant differences were detected in growth rate and in biomass produced under both nitrogen regimes (Table 2). Nevertheless, significant differences were found in maximum fermentation rate of the M. pulcherrima strain used in both conditions.…”

Glucose and Fructose Fermentation by Wine Yeasts in Media Containing Structurally Complex Nitrogen Sources

“…Troubled fermentations have been attributed to the nutritional status of grape musts, once they contain suboptimal yeast nutrients, especially assimilable nitrogen 3,17,21,32 . A common practice in the wine industry for nitrogen limited fermentation is the addition of nitrogen supplements, using inorganic salts such as diammonium phosphate 22,27 . In addition to nutritional deficiencies, grape must contains approximately equimolar amounts of glucose and fructose, which are cofermented to ethanol, with a preference for glucose 12 .…”