Influence of wine fermentation temperature on the synthesis of yeast-derived volatile aroma compounds

The yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae synthesises a variety of volatile aroma compounds during wine fermentation. In this study, the influence of fermentation temperature on (1) the production of yeast-derived aroma compounds and (2) the expression of genes involved in aroma compounds’ metabolism (ADH1, PDC1, BAT1, BAT2, LEU2, ILV2, ATF1, ATF2, EHT1 and IAH1) was assessed, during the fermentation of a defined must at 15 and 28°C. Higher concentrations of compounds related to fresh and fruity aromas were found at 15°C, while higher concentrations of flowery related aroma compounds were found at 28°C. The formation rates of volatile aroma compounds varied according to growth stage. In addition, linear correlations between the increases in concentration of higher alcohol and their corresponding acetates were obtained. Genes presented different expression profiles at both temperatures, except ILV2, and those involved in common pathways were co-expressed (ADH1, PDC1 and BAT2; and ATF1, EHT1 and IAH1). These results demonstrate that the fermentation temperature plays an important role in the wine final aroma profile, and is therefore an important control parameter to fine-tune wine quality during winemaking.