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O sulfeto de hidrogênio (H2S) é um produto secundário da fermentação alcoólica que possui um aroma desagradável a ovos podres. A quantidade de H2S produzido durante a vinificação é influenciada pela estirpe de levedura utilizada e pela composição do mosto. Foi objetivo deste trabalho, avaliar a capacidade de produção de H2S em leveduras indígenas de origem enológica e selecionar isolados pouco produtores de sulfeto. A atividade sulfito redutase foi pesquisada, em 259 leveduras isoladas de mostos e vinhos, no meio comercial BiGGY Agar. Os resultados demonstraram que as leveduras não Saccharomyces produziram mais H2S que as leveduras do gênero Saccharomyces. A relação entre a produção de sulfeto de hidrogênio e a composição do mosto foi avaliada em 25 isolados pouco produtores de H2S no meio comercial. Foram utilizados 11 mostos de uva e um mosto sintético de composição química definida, aos quais foi adicionado citrato de bismuto como indicador. Os resultados demonstram haver uma influência significativa da composição do mosto no potencial das leveduras para produzir H2S. O mosto natural com citrato de bismuto é um meio adequado para prever a capacidade de uma dada levedura produzir H2S num determinado mosto.Hydrogen sulphide (H2S) is a by-product of alcoholic fermentation that has an off-odour like rotten eggs. The amount of H2S produced during winemaking is influenced by the yeast strain and must composition. The purpose of this work was to evaluate the ability of indigenous wine yeast to produce H2S, and select isolates low-sulphide producers. Sulphite reductase activity was screened in 259 isolates from musts and wines in BiGGY Agar Medium. The results demonstrate that non-Saccharomyces yeasts were higher H S-producers than those strains of Saccharomyces used in this study. The relationship between H2S production and medium composition was evaluated in 25 isolates that displayed low H2S production on BiGGY Agar. For that, 11 natural grape musts and a chemically defined grape juice medium with bismuth citrate as indicator were used. The results demonstrate that the must composition influenced significantly the ability of the yeast to produce H2S. The use of natural grape juice with bismuth citrate as indicator is an adequate medium to predict the potential of a determined yeast strain to produce H S in a specific must.

Mead is a traditional drink that contains 8 % and 18 % (v/v) of ethanol, resulting from the alcoholic fermentation of diluted honey by yeasts. Mead fermentation is a time-consuming process and the quality of the final product is highly variable. Therefore, the present investigation had two main objectives: first, to determine the adequate inoculum size of two commercial wine-making strains of Saccharomyces cerevisiae for the optimisation of mead fermentation; and second, to determine if an increase in yeast pitching rates in batch fermentations altered the resulting aroma profiles. Minor differences were detected in the growth kinetics between the two strains at the lowest pitching rate. With increasing pitching rates net growth of the strain ICV D47 progressively decreased, whereas for the QA23 the increasing inoculum size had no influence on its net growth. The time required to reach the same stage of fermentation ranged from 24 to 96 h depending on the inoculum size. The final aroma composition was dependent on the yeast strain and inoculum size. Fourteen of the twenty-seven volatile compounds quantified could contribute to mead aroma and flavour because their concentrations rose above their respective thresholds. The formation of these compounds was particularly pronounced at low pitching rates, except in mead fermented by strain ICV D47, at 106 CFUs/mL. The esters isoamyl acetate, ethyl octanoate and ethyl hexanoate were the major powerful odourants found in the meads. The results obtained in this study demonstrate that yeast strain and inoculum size can favourably impact mead’s flavour and aroma profiles., The research presented in this paper was partially funded by the Fundacao para a Ciencia e Tecnologia, (FCT) and by PTDC projects (contracts PTDC/AGR-ALI/68284/2006). A.P.P. is a recipient of a Ph.D. grant from FCT (SFRH/BD/45820/2008).

Nitrogen starvation may lead to stuck and sluggish fermentations. These undesirable situations result in wines with high residual sugar, longer vinification times, and risks of microbial contamination. The typical oenological method to prevent these problems is the early addition of ammonium salts to the grape juice, although excessive levels of these compounds may lead to negative consequences for the final product. This addition reduces the overall fermentation time, regardless of the time of addition, but the effect is more significant when nitrogen is added during the yeast exponential phase. In this work we analysed the effect of adding different nitrogen sources (ammonia, amino acids or a combination of both) under nitrogen depletion in order to understand yeast metabolic changes that lead to the adaptation to the new conditions. These studies were carried out in a synthetic must that mimics the composition of the natural must. Furthermore, we studied how this addition affects fermentative behaviour, the levels of several yeast volatile compounds in the final product, arginase activity, and the expression of several genes involved in stress response and nitrogen metabolism during vinification. We found that the nature of the nitrogen source added during yeast late exponential growth phase introduces changes to the volatile compounds profile and to the gene expression. On the other hand, arginase activity and the expression of the stress response gene ACA1 are useful to monitor nitrogen depletion/addition during growth of the wine yeast considered under our vinification conditions.