Related Experiment Video
Updated: May 7, 2026

Profiling the Bacterial Community of Fermenting Traminette Grapes during Wine Production using Metagenomic Amplicon Sequencing
Published on: December 1, 2023
Production of volatile phenols by Lactobacillus plantarum in wine conditions
Pauline Fras1, Francisco M Campos, Tim Hogg
1CBQF-Centro de Biotecnologia e Química Fina, Escola Superior de Biotecnologia, Centro Regional do Porto da Universidade Católica Portuguesa, Rua Dr. António Bernardino Almeida, 4200-072, Porto, Portugal, Fraspauline@aol.com.
Abstract:
Some lactic acid bacteria produce volatile phenols in culture medium but this activity has not been extensively studied in wine conditions. Red and white wines were mixed with MRS medium at different ratios to study the influence of wine on the metabolism of p-coumaric and ferulic acids by Lactobacillus plantarum. In MRS broth supplemented with these precursors at 10 mg l(-1), only 4-ethylphenol was produced (1 mg l(-1)) while, in the presence of wine, 4-vinylphenol was also obtained. Both volatile phenols are produced in nearly equal amounts (1 mg l(-1)) or almost only 4-vinylphenol depending on the MRS:wine ratio. Thus, wine favours the accumulation of 4-vinylphenol. Ferulic acid was not or was weakly metabolized in the conditions studied.
Related Concept Videos
Microbes in Beverage Production
Microbes in the Production of Fermented Foods
Microbes in Food Production
Production of Organic Acids
Microbial Fermentation
Fermentation
Fermentation is a type of metabolic process that occurs in the absence of oxygen, where organic molecules such as glucose are broken down to produce energy. During this process, the...

