Effect of grape indigenous Saccharomyces cerevisiae strains on Montepulciano d'Abruzzo red wine quality Giovanna Suzzi, Giuseppe Arfelli, Maria Schirone, Aldo Corsetti, Giorgia Perpetuini, Rosanna Tofalo ⁎ Dipartimento di Scienze degli Alimenti, Università degli Studi di Teramo, Via C.R. Lerici 1, 64023 Mosciano Sant'Angelo, Teramo, Italy abstract article info Article history: Received 20 July 2011 Accepted 16 October 2011 Keywords: Saccharomyces cerevisiae Native starter PCR-DGGE Wine flavor The growth of selected, indigenous Saccharomyces cerevisiae added as starters (SRS1, MS72 and RT73) was monitored during Montepulciano d'Abruzzo wine production. In all the fermentations the addition of the starter, caused a decrease of the non-Saccharomyces yeasts. When strains MS72 and RT73 were used as starters they were detected in the first phases of fermentations, while strain SRS1 competed successfully with native yeasts during all the process. Wines obtained by fermentation with the indigenous starters showed some different characteristics, according to the chemical and sensory analyses. This study highlighted that among selected starters with high fermentative capacity, some are able to dominate better than other natural wine yeast biota, whereas some strains can interact and survive besides native yeast populations during the fermentation. As a consequence, the dominance character can have a positive or negative effect on wine quality and has to be considered in the frame of yeast selection in order to improve or characterize traditional wines. Winemakers could choose among different degrees of yeast dominance to modulate the interaction among starter and native wine yeast population. © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. 1. Introduction Traditionally, wine fermentation is carried out in a spontaneous way by indigenous yeasts present on the grapes when harvested, or introduced from the equipment and cellar during the vinification process (Ciani, Mannazzu, Marinangeli, Clementi, & Martini, 2004; Mortimer & Polsinelli, 1999). In the past years, strains of Saccharomyces cerevisiae have been selected for their enological properties and have been used as starters in winemaking to carry out alcoholic fermentation with success. The native and starter strains of S. cerevisiae, involved in fermentation, play an important role in the characteristics of wine (King et al., 2008; Lambrechts & Pretorius, 2000; Thorhgate, 1998; Vilanova & Sieiro, 2006). In fact the composition and the sensory quality of the resulting wine are due to the diversity of S. cerevisiae strains and to their dominance in fermentation (La Jeune, Enry, Demuyter, & Lollier, 2006; Torrens et al., 2008; Wondra & Boveric, 2001). Even if commercial S. cerevisiae strains could be inoculated in grape must in order to establish a high population and accomplish a well-controlled must fermentation, in some cases, strains of S. cerevisiae inoculated as starter cultures were not able to compete successfully with indigenous strains and, therefore, do not dominate the fermentation as expected with important practical consequences (Constantí, Poblet, Arola Mas, & Guillamón, 1997; Egli, Edinger, Mitrakul, & Henick-Kling, 1998; Fleet, 2008; Ganga & Martinez, 2004; Gutierrez, Santamaria, Epifanio, Garijo, & Lopez, 1999; Querol, Barrio, Huerta, & Ramon, 1992; Santamaria, Garijo, Lopez, Tenorio, & Gutierrez, 2005). Many wine-researchers and winemakers prefer the use of local, autochthonous, selected strains of S. cerevisiae as starters (Martini & Vaughan-Martini, 1990). In fact active dried yeasts seem to reduce the biodiversity of strains that perform natural fermentation, and, as a consequence of this, to reduce the resulting wine complexity (Frezier & Dubordieu, 1992). The native S. cerevisiae strains are better acclimated to micro-area conditions of the wine production region (Monk & Cowley, 1984) and therefore they can more easily dominate on the natural biota (La Jeune et al., 2006). Montepulciano d'Abruzzo is a native grape variety of Vitis vinifera L., grown in central Italy and used for production of high quality red wines. Limited studies have been carried out to improve its enological characteristics through the use of indigenous strains of S. cerevisiae (Suzzi et al., 2008). During 2006 a study on Montepulciano d'Abruzzo “Colline Teramane DOCG” (Abruzzi Region, Italy) was started to select autochthonous strains particularly useful to the specific fermentation of musts produced in three defined homogenous winegrowing areas, named A, B and C (Suzzi et al., 2008). The selection of these strains was based on some desirable and traditional enological criteria, such as high fermentation performance, low production of hydrogen sulfide, resistance to ethanol and sulfur dioxide, among others. How- ever, during must fermentation the presence of phenotypically dis- tinct native yeast populations, perhaps reflecting an adaptation to specific microenvironments, has very important implications for the ecology and biotechnological use of autochthonous wild yeast strains, as starters (Nadal, Colomer, & Pina, 1996). Although many producers of red wine Montepulciano d'Abruzzo carry out spontaneous Food Research International 46 (2012) 22–29 ⁎ Corresponding author. Tel.: + 39 0861 266911; fax: + 39 0861 266915. E-mail address: rtofalo@unite.it (R. Tofalo). 0963-9969/$ – see front matter © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.foodres.2011.10.046 Contents lists available at SciVerse ScienceDirect Food Research International journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/foodres