Yeast mixtures and saccharomyces hybrids: Suitable tools for performing more sophisticated must fermentations

Abstract

It can be concluded from the early development of viniculture that the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae is one of the oldest domesticated organisms. The wine producing techniques have been further developed empirically over generations. Despite this long time of wine production, our knowledge about the microbiological and biochemical background of the transformation of must into wine is relatively recent. Fundamental investigations about must transformation into wine were carried out at the end of the eighteenth and in the course of the nineteenth century. Today a relatively broad knowledge exists about the diversity of wine-related microorganisms. Nevertheless, sluggish or stuck fermentations cause significant financial losses for winemakers each year. These observations stimulate the search for new procedures to circumvent the fermentation obstacles.