Chemical consequences of three commercial strains of Oenococcus oeni co-inoculated with Torulaspora delbrueckii in durian wine fermentation

• O. oeni strains were co-inoculated with Torulaspora delbrueckii in durian wine.
• O. oeni caused early death of T. delbrueckii.
• O. oeni significantly affected some organic acid metabolism.
• Malolactic fermentation altered volatile profiles in durian wine.

This work evaluated for the first time the chemical consequences of three commercial strains of Oenococcus oeni co-inoculated with Torulaspora delbrueckii in durian wine fermentation. Compared with the control (yeast only, 5.70% v/v ethanol produced), samples co-inoculated with T. delbrueckii and O. oeni PN4 improved ethanol production (6.06% v/v), which was significantly higher than samples co-inoculated with Viniflora (4.78% v/v) or Enoferm Beta (5.01% v/v). Wines co-fermented with the respective latter two oenococci contained excessive levels of ethyl acetate (>80 mg/L) that were likely to affect negatively wine aroma. In addition, they led to significantly higher acetic and lactic acid production relative to PN4. O. oeni PN4 seemed to be the most suitable strain to co-inoculate with T. delbrueckii for simultaneous alcoholic and malolactic fermentation in durian wine by contributing moderately increased concentrations of higher alcohols, acetate esters and ethyl esters that would have positive sensory impacts.