Isolation of Saccharomyces cerevisiae strains producing higher levels of flavoring compounds for production of "cachaça" the Brazilian sugarcane spirit.
In Brazil, spontaneous fermentation and open vessels are still used to produce cachaça (the Brazilian sugarcane spirit) and this fermentation is characterized by mixed cultures with continuous succession of yeast species. This work shows the development of a methodology for isolation of yeasts, particularly Saccharomyces cerevisiae, used in the production of cachaça. According to the proposed strategy, the strains were selected for their ability to adapt to stress conditions encountered during fermentation of the sugarcane juice such as high sucrose concentration; high temperatures and high alcohol concentration; for their capacity to flocculate; and for their higher fermentative ability. For strains with such characteristics, specific procedures were employed to select for 5,5,5-trifluoro-DL-leucine (TFL) and cerulenin-resistant strains, since these characteristics are related to a higher capacity of production of the flavoring compounds isoamyl alcohol and caproic acid, respectively. The effectiveness of such a selection strategy was documented. Taken together, the results obtained present the development of a new strategy to isolate yeast strains with appropriated characteristics to be used in the cachaça industry. Moreover, the results obtained offer an explanation for the great variability in terms of chemical composition found in products obtained even in a single distillery.
Laboratório de Biologia Celular e Molecular, Núcleo de Pesquisas em Ciências Biológicas, ICEB II, Departamento de Fármacia, Escola de Fármacia, Universidade Federal de Ouro Preto, Campus do Morro do Cruzeiro. 35.400-000-Ouro Preto, Minas Gerais, Brazil.
Maristela de Araújo
MA
Vicente
Luciano Gomes
LG
Fietto
Ieso de Miranda
IM
Castro
Ana Nery Gonçalves
AN
dos Santos
Maurício Xavier
MX
Coutrim
Rogelio Lopes
RL
Brandão
D000222:Adaptation, Physiological; D000434:Alcoholic Beverages / Q000382:microbiology*; D001938:Brazil; D000431:Ethanol / Q000378:metabolism; D005285:Fermentation; D005516:Food Microbiology; D006863:Hydrogen-Ion Concentration; D012441:Saccharomyces cerevisiae / Q000302:isolation & purification* / Q000502:physiology*; D031786:Saccharum / Q000378:metabolism / Q000382:microbiology*; D013395:Sucrose / Q000378:metabolism; D013649:Taste
D000431:Ethanol; D013395:Sucrose