title: Production of sensory compounds by means of the yeast Dekkera bruxellensis in different nitrogen sources with the prospect of producing cachaça.
abstract: The distilled spirit made from sugar cane juice, also known as cachaça, is a traditional Brazilian beverage that in recent years has increased its market share among international distilled beverages. Several volatile compounds produced by yeast cells during the fermentation process are responsible for the unique taste and aroma of this drink. The yeast Dekkera bruxellensis has acquired increasing importance in the fermented beverage production, as the different metabolites produced by this yeast may be either beneficial or harmful to the end-product. Since D. bruxellensis is often found in the fermentation processes carried out in ethanol fuel distillation in Brazil, we employed this yeast to analyse the physiological profile and production of aromatic compounds and to examine whether it is feasible to regard it as a cachaça-producing microorganism. The assays were performed on a small scale and simulated the conditions for the production of handmade cachaça. The results showed that the presence of aromatic and branched-chain amino acids in the medium has a strong influence on the metabolism and production of flavours by D. bruxellensis. The assimilation of these alternative nitrogen sources led to different fermentation yields and the production of flavouring compounds. The influence of the nitrogen source on the metabolism of fusel alcohols and esters in D. bruxellensis highlights the need for further studies of the nitrogen requirements to obtain the desired level of sensory compounds in the fermentation. Our results suggest that D. bruxellensis has the potential to play a role in the production of cachaça.
authors.affiliation: Interdepartmental Research Group on Metabolic Engineering, Federal University of Pernambuco, Recife, PE, Brazil.
authors.forename: Denise
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Castro Parente
authors.forename: Esteban Espinosa
authors.initials: EE
authors.lastname: Vidal
authors.forename: Fernanda Cristina Bezerra
authors.initials: FC
authors.lastname: Leite
authors.forename: Will
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: de Barros Pita
authors.forename: Marcos Antonio
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: de Morais
mesh_terms: D000434:Alcoholic Beverages / Q000382:microbiology*; D001938:Brazil; D003470:Culture Media / Q000378:metabolism; D055167:Dekkera / Q000378:metabolism*; D005285:Fermentation; D005421:Flavoring Agents / Q000378:metabolism*; D009584:Nitrogen / Q000378:metabolism*; D031786:Saccharum / Q000378:metabolism / Q000382:microbiology*
chemical_list: D003470:Culture Media; D005421:Flavoring Agents; D009584:Nitrogen
keywords: Ehrlich pathway; alcoholic fermentation; cachaça; fusel alcohols; nitrogen source; volatile esters