Selection of appropriate Schizosaccharomyces strains for winemaking

• It is possible to select Schizosaccharomyces strains with adequate oenological ability.
• Selected Schizosaccharomyces strains display some oenological beneficial characteristics besides malic acid degradation.
• The selected Schizosaccharomyces strains produced lower acetic acid levels than non selected Schizosaccharomyces strains.
• The studied Schizosaccharomyces strains produced less urea than the Saccharomyces reference strains.
• The studied Schizosaccharomyces strains produced more pyruvic acid than the Saccharomyces reference strains.

This paper describes the selection of Schizosaccharomyces yeasts with adequate oenological suitability and high capacity for the degradation of malic acid. Despite the almost non-existent number of commercial strains, the use of this yeast genus has recently been recommended by the International Organisation of Vine and Wine (OIV, in French). Thus, in the present study, a large number of Schizosaccharomyces strains were isolated using a selective differential medium. Initially, classic parameters of oenological interest for the use of fermentative strains of Saccharomyces cerevisiae (the most frequently used type of yeast) were assessed. Only five strains of moderate acetic acid production lower than 0.4 g/L were obtained at the end of fermentation. Other, more specific features of this yeast genus' physiology were also studied, including urease activity and the production of pyruvic acid and glycerol. Finally, oenological suitability was determined by comparing selected strains with other Schizosaccharomyces reference and S cerevisiae control strains. Schizosaccharomyces strains produced 80% less urea content, four times higher pyruvic acid levels and 1 g higher glycerol contents than the Saccharomyces reference strains. The results confirmed that it is possible to perform selective processes on microorganisms from the genus Schizosaccharomyces using methodology developed in this work to obtain strains of industrial interest.