The Growth and Survival of Acetic Acid Bacteria In Wines at Different Concentrations of Oxygen

¹ Department of Food Science and Technology. School of Applied Biosciences. The University of New South Wales, P.O. Box 1, Kensington, NSW 2033, Australia.

The growth of Acetobacter aceti, A. pasteurianus and Gluconobacter oxydans was examined in three wines held at 100%, 70%, and 30% to 50% dissolved oxygen and correlated with changes in concentrations of wine sugars, alcohols, organic acids, acetaldehyde, and ethyl acetate. Both A. pasteurianus and A. aceti grew to populations of 10⁸ cfu/mL in fully aerated wines. Weaker growth occurred at lower dissolved concentrations. Growth was accompanied by reductions in the concentration of ethanol and increases in the concentration of acetic acid. Other changes included reductions in the concentrations of some organic acids and glycerol and increases in the concentration of acetaldehyde and ethyl acetate. Gluconobacter oxydans did not grow in the wine samples.

Key words: Acetobacter, Gluconobacter, acetic acid bacteria, ethanol concentration

Submitted on October 13, 1988