Indigenous Saccharomyces cerevisiae strains and their influence on the quality of Cataratto, Inzolia and Grillo white wines Antonio Scacco a, ⁎, Daniele Oliva b , Sabina Di Maio b , Giuseppe Polizzotto b, c , Giuseppe Genna b , Gianluca Tripodi d , Carmela Maria Lanza a , Antonella Verzera d a DISPA, University of Catania, Italy b Istituto Regionale della Vite e del Vino, Palermo, Italy c Mediterranean University of Reggio Calabria, Italy d Department of Organic and Biological Chemistry, University of Messina, Italy abstract article info Article history: Received 15 July 2011 Accepted 18 October 2011 Keywords: New Saccharomyces cerevisiae strains Inzolia Grillo Cataratto Aroma compounds Sensory analysis The present paper deals with three new strains of Saccharomyces cerevisiae, isolated in old wineries of Sicily, which were microbiologically and molecularly characterized and tested for their ability to produce white wines. Examined in terms of their growth pattern, fermentation vigour, sulphite tolerance, fermentative power, spore formation, and production of acetic acid, hydrogen sulphide and phenolic off-flavours, the strains were utilized as starters in experimental fermentations of musts obtained from the cultivars Inzolia, Grillo and Catarratto. Further, the three musts were also fermented using two commercial S. cerevisiae strains. The quality of the wines produced was confirmed by their principal oenochemical parameters, by sensory analysis and qualitative and quantitative determination of the volatile aroma constituents. All the data were statistically elaborated. Interestingly, the new selected yeasts were able to increase the pear notes (Z)-ethyl-4-decenoate, (E)-ethyl-3-decenoate, and (Z)-ethyl-3-decenoate which are fundamental for the aroma of these Sicilian wines. From our results, the new yeast strains were found to produce white wines of a quality which was not inferior to those obtainable with the best commercial strains selected in other geographical areas, but also with a distinctive aromatic profile. © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. 1. Introduction In winemaking, the use of a yeast starter culture ensures an ade- quate control of the alcoholic must fermentation. Today a wide variety of dried Saccharomyces cerevisiae yeast strains are commercially avail- able and able to prevail over the native yeasts in the must and avoid the risks associated with the development of species potentially detri- mental to the wine quality. However, in those regions which are well- known for typical wines, it would preferable to use a starter of indigenous yeasts of the same area (Moreno, Millàn, Ortega, & Medina, 1991); in fact, each strain of S. cerevisiae is able to produce dif- ferent types and quantities of secondary compounds which are deter- minant on the desirable aromatic characteristics of a wine (Pretorius, 2000). Further, the selected yeast strains should produce very low quantities of unpleasant compounds which could compromise the qual- ity of the bouquet. In fact, in the case of white wines, both Saccharomy- ces and non-Saccharomyces yeasts have been found to produce undesired phenolic compounds (Chatonnet, Dubourdieu, Boidron, & Pons, 1992). The volatile phenolic compounds, such as 4-vinyl guaiacol or 4-vinyl phenol, are produced through the decarboxylation of ferulic acid and p-cumaric acid, respectively, and the subsequent reduction of these compounds leads to the formation of 4-ethyl guaiacol and 4- ethyl phenol. These volatile phenols have a distinctive aroma judged to be “smoky”, “pharmaceutical” or “leathery” even if present in small quantities in the grapes. When present at high levels in wine, they result in a defect called phenolic off-flavour (POF) (Thurston & Tubb, 1981). The Regional Institute of Vine and Wine (IRVV) (Palermo, Italy) has isolated more than 900 S. cerevisiae yeasts from spontaneous ferment- ing musts, in order to study and preserve the biodiversity of these indig- enous populations and also to identify promising yeast strains for use in winemaking. This collection of yeasts is characterized by high genetic variability and the identification of some characteristic phenotypes, Food Research International 46 (2012) 1–9 Abbreviations: POF, phenolic off flavour; IRVV, Istituto Regionale della Vite e del Vino; PCR, polymerase chain reaction; DIPROVAL, Dipartimento di Protezione e Valorizzazione Agroalimentare; mtDNA-RFLP, mitochondrial DNA-restriction fragments length polymor- phisms; YPD, yeast peptone dextrose; TBE, tris borate EDTA; EDTA, ethylene diamine tet- raacetic acid; EEC, Economic European Community; WL, Wallerstein Laboratory nutrient agar; HS-SPME–GC–MS, head space-solid phase micro extraction-gas chromatography– mass spectrometry; DVB/CAR/PDMS, DiVinylBenzene/Carboxen/PolyDiMethylSiloxane; CP-Wax 52 CB, Chrompack Wax 52 Chemically Bonded; PCA, principal component analy- sis; ANOVA, analysis of variance; Bp, base pairs. ⁎ Corresponding author at: DISPA, University of Catania, Via S. Sofia, 98 95123 Catania, Italy. Tel.: +39 095 7580217; fax: +39 095 7141960. E-mail address: ascacco@unict.it (A. Scacco). 0963-9969/$ – see front matter © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.foodres.2011.10.038 Contents lists available at SciVerse ScienceDirect Food Research International journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/foodres