Glucose fermentation kinetics and exopolysaccharide production by ropy Pediococcus damnosus IOEB8801

The metabolic behaviour of ropy Pediococcus damnosus IOEB8801 is examined under various culture conditions and the consequences on EPS production are discussed. EPS synthesis appears like a metabolic leak occurring when growth slows down. The level of the main intracellular enzymatic activities implicated in glycolysis or EPS and cell wall synthesis are not modified by the turning on of EPS synthesis. As a result, an efficient preliminary growth phase is essential for subsequent important EPS production. Thus, it seems that wines in which pH is high, glucose and a nitrogen source are present and which are not agitated at all are more likely to become ropy when P. damnosus IOEB 8801 is present.