A laboratory yeast strain suitable for spirit production

Area of Science:

• Microbiology
• Enology
• Biotechnology

Background:

• Commercial yeast strains (Saccharomyces cerevisiae) for alcohol production (beer, wine, spirits) are often genetically undefined.
• This lack of definition hinders genetic improvement via classical breeding and modern molecular techniques.
• Undefined strains complicate the application of advanced yeast molecular biology methods.

Purpose of the Study:

• To construct a genetically well-defined, prototrophic diploid production strain of Saccharomyces cerevisiae.
• To evaluate the fermentative and sensory performance of this novel strain in spirit production.
• To compare the laboratory-derived strain against commercially available yeasts.

Main Methods:

• Construction of a prototrophic diploid strain from two haploid laboratory Saccharomyces cerevisiae strains with auxotrophic markers.
• Fermentation of fruit mashes (cherries, plums, pears) at a 90 kg scale.
• Distillation of fermented mashes and sensory analysis of the resulting spirits (40% ethanol v/v).
• Assay of fermentation parameters: growth, sugar utilization, ethanol, volatile compounds, higher alcohols, and glycerol.

Main Results:

• The genetically defined laboratory strain demonstrated comparable fermentative performance to commercial yeasts.
• No disadvantage was observed in spirit production parameters, including volatile compound generation and glycerol production.
• Sensory analysis confirmed the quality of spirits produced by the laboratory strain.
• Statistical consolidation of fermentation and sensory data supported the findings.

Conclusions:

• The developed genetically defined Saccharomyces cerevisiae strain is suitable for spirit production.
• This strain offers significant advantages for future strain improvement through classical and molecular genetic approaches.
• The findings pave the way for tailored yeast physiology for specific industrial production schemes.