Food or edible material: processes – compositions – and products – Fermentation processes – Alcoholic beverage production or treatment to result in...
Patent
1990-07-25
1991-12-31
Cintins, Marianne
Food or edible material: processes, compositions, and products
Fermentation processes
Alcoholic beverage production or treatment to result in...
426 16, 426 52, C12C 1100, C12G 100
Patent
active
050770608
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
FIELD OF INVENTION
The present invention relates to a method of inducing the decarboxylation of malic acid to lactic acid in must or fruit juice by means of lactic acid bacteria, as well as to a composition comprising bacteria useful in the method.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The decarboxylation of malic acid to lactic acid by certain species of lactic acid bacteria in the production of wine has been recognized for a long time. As malic acid is one of the most common organic acids in grapes (and other fruit), its decarboxylation to lactic acid results in a significant reduction of the acidity of the wine; this is particularly important for wines produced from grapes grown in cool areas as these have a high natural acidity. Another advantage of the conversion of malic acid to lactic acid (which in the literature and in the following description is often termed malolactic fermentation, for which reason the lactic acid bacteria capable of converting malic acid to lactic acid are termed malolactic bacteria in the present context) is that no further microbial fermentations may take place in the wine so that it becomes bacteriologically stable. Furthermore malolactic fermentation may exert some influence on the flavour of the wine.
In traditional vinification the decarboxylation process has been allowed to occur spontaneously as a result of the growth of an indigenous flora of lactic acid bacteria originating from the vines and grape skins and also often surviving on winery equipment, especially wooden casks or other equipment made of wood, from one season to the next, these bacteria decarboxylating malic acid to produce lactic acid. When occurring in this fashion, malolactic fermentation is often delayed and may take place several months after the alcoholic fermentation. The initial number of bacteria is often quite small and the environment of the wine is frequently rather hostile to the growth of these bacteria due to the content of ethanol and sulphur dioxide in the wine, as well as its low pH and nutrient concentration. The long lag phase of the malolactic bacteria during which the wine is biologically unstable may result in the growth of bacteria which produce volatile acidity and hence spoilage of the wine. Apart from this certain malolactic bacteria spontaneously growing in the wine may produce certain compounds, e.g. diacetyl and acetoin, that tend to give rise to "off" flavours or odours in the wine.
Even so, it is common practice to stimulate malolactic fermentation by reducing the content of sulphur dioxide, delaying the removal of the lees, increasing the temperature of the wine or ensuring a pH of more than 3.4. These conditions, however, also encourage the growth of other microorganisms in the wine, thus increasing the likelihood of wine spoilage and this approach therefore requires extremely careful supervision of the decarboxylation process.
Furthermore, the self-inoculation of the wine by indigenous bacteria is difficult, not to say impossible, to control, and its occurrence has become even more unpredictable as winery hygiene has improved stainless steel tanks having in many cases replaced wooden casks etc. Such measures serve to ensure a uniform quality of the wine and reduce the risk of spoilage. However, they also reduce the chance of spontaneous conversion of malic acid taking place in the wine. For this reason and because the winemaker will often prefer to exercise a greater degree of control over the decarboxylation process strains of malolactic bacteria have recently been isolated and cultivated with the purpose of adding them to wine or must in order to make sure that malolactic fermentation will take place.
In the previously known methods of inducing decarboxylation of malic acid by means of a selected strain of a malolactic bacterium, a culture of the malolactic bacterium which has been reactivated (i.e. a frozen or lyophilized culture which is adapted and/or propagated in a medium containing nutrients, must or wine) prior to use is added to fermented wine (the most usual approac
REFERENCES:
"The Development and Utilization of Freeze-Dried Malolactic Bacteria Cultures for Inoculation of Wine", R. B. Beelman and G. R. Duke, Malolactic Fermentiation, pp. 53-63, (1984).
"Inducing Simultaneous Malolactic-Alcoholic Fermentation in Red Table Wines", R. B. Beelman and R. E. Kunkee, Malolactic Fermentation, pp. 97-112, (1984).
"Development and Utilization of Starter Cultures to Induced Malolactic Fermentation in Red Table Wines", R. Beelman, Proc. Grape and Wine Centennial Symp., pp. 109-117, (1982).
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"Etude De La Degradation De L'Acide L-Malique Par Les Bacteries Lactiques Non Proliferantes Isolees Des Vins", S. Lafon-Lafourcade, Ann. Techol. Argic., 19:141-154 (1970).
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"Comparative traits of Lactobacillus brevis, Lact. fructivorans and Leuconostoc oenos Immobilized Cells for the Control of Malo-Lactic Fermentation in Wine", A. Crapisi et al., J. Appl. Bacteriol. 63:513-521 (1987).
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Chr. Hansen's Laboratorium A/S
Cintins Marianne
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