ReviewSpoilage yeasts in the wine industry
Introduction
When we look at any subject on food microbiology published during the last 50 years, it appears that food spoilage caused by yeasts receives little attention, even in foods commonly spoiled by yeasts. Analysis of the works published on food spoilage by yeasts, starting from the classical review of Ingram (1958) to the book of Deak and Beuchat (1996) leads to the conclusion that little has changed in the knowledge of the biological processes and microbial interactions involved in food spoilage by yeasts. The following questions should still be asked. (i) What is spoilage yeast? (ii) Does the food industry have adequate information to be sufficiently aware of the microbiological problems of a food commodity? (iii) What are the sources of spoilage yeasts in the food industry? (iv) Does the food industry have the appropriate zymological indicators to assess the quality of foods and to establish fair commercial contracts with retailers and wholesalers?
Section snippets
Concept of “spoilage yeast”
In many cases, microbial spoilage is not easily defined, particularly in fermented foods and beverages, where the metabolites produced contribute to the flavour, aroma, and taste of the final products. In fact, for cultural or ethnic reasons, there is little difference between what is perceived as spoilage or beneficial activity (Fleet, 1992). An example of this can be found in the wine industry, where the production of 4-ethylphenol by Brettanomyces/Dekkera spp. in red wines is only regarded
Methods of assessing the presence of spoilage yeasts in food ecosystems: very limited and few improvements in last decades
There are several techniques used to show the presence of spoilage yeasts in foods. However, undoubtedly, the spread plate technique is still the most popular and will be described in more detail.
The microbiological analysis of a food sample may be compared to taking a photo of the sample, aiming to show the species and size of the yeast population. As in photography, the sharpness depends on the tools and techniques used, which are, for the plate technique (i) sampling, (ii) pretreatment
Origin of spoilage yeasts in the wine industry
The wine production environment may be divided in two fundamental parts: the vineyard, which is a natural ecosystem, influenced by cultural practices, and the winery, which is the environment associated with grape fermentation, wine storage and aging, and bottling. A deep knowledge of these two ecosystems—vineyard and the winery—is essential to establish the origin of wine spoilage yeasts, their routes of contamination, critical points of yeast infection, and their control.
Quality control and indicators of spoilage yeast in wines
In a well-implemented and designed HACCP system, the evaluation of the microbiological quality of foods is not limited to the retrospective analysis of the final product. It also includes the estimation of the microbiological quality of raw materials, ingredients, sanitation procedures, processing operations, as well as the product shelf life. In turn, modern international trade is evolving towards the evaluation of microbiological quality of foods and beverages according to standardised
Conclusions and future trends
From the several aspects covered in this review, the main conclusions may be summarised as follows:
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knowledge of the microbial ecology of grapes, particularly damaged grapes, wineries and vectors has many gaps that do not enable a full understanding of the origin and dissemination of spoilage yeasts in wines;
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some yeast species are of great concern in wine industry, namely, Dekkera/Brettanomyces spp. in red wines matured in oak barrels and in wines originating from poor sanitary quality grapes;
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Acknowledgements
We are indebted to the colleagues that forwarded our inquiry to wine and wholesalers companies as well as to those answering to our request on procedures of microbiological control.
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