Speaker
Description
The early stages of alcoholic fermentation are highly susceptible to external influences and the success of the process depends on the ability of the fermenting yeast strain to adapt to adverse conditions. This study investigated the effect of adding two commercial bio-activators on fermentation performance and yeast cell responses during the first 48 hours of alcoholic fermentation. In addition, the effect of a low pH environment (2.9) on the parameters under analysis was assessed. Specifically, yeast population levels were monitored using plate counts and flow cytometry, which allowed to evaluate also yeast viability, during the first 48 hours after inoculation. The RNA was extracted from yeast cells, converted to cDNA and analysed by RT-qPCR to assess gene expression. Notably, both plate counts and flow cytometry showed that yeast population levels were higher at 14 hours after inoculation in the bio-activator treatments. In addition, the addition of bio-activators improved cell viability under both standard and low pH conditions. Gene expression analysis revealed distinct treatment-dependent responses, suggesting that the bio-activators affected stress-related pathways. Overall, this study provides important insights into yeast cell physiology, highlighting how yeast cells adapt their behaviour to cope with challenging conditions during the early stages of fermentation.
| Presenting author | Enrico Viola |
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