Skip to main content
Log in

Performance evaluation of Pichia kluyveri, Kluyveromyces marxianus and Saccharomyces cerevisiae in industrial tequila fermentation

  • Original Paper
  • Published:
World Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Traditionally, industrial tequila production has used spontaneous fermentation or Saccharomyces cerevisiae yeast strains. Despite the potential of non-Saccharomyces strains for alcoholic fermentation, few studies have been performed at industrial level with these yeasts. Therefore, in this work, Agave tequilana juice was fermented at an industrial level using two non-Saccharomyces yeasts (Pichia kluyveri and Kluyveromyces marxianus) with fermentation efficiency higher than 85 %. Pichia kluyveri (GRO3) was more efficient for alcohol and ethyl lactate production than S. cerevisiae (AR5), while Kluyveromyces marxianus (GRO6) produced more isobutanol and ethyl-acetate than S. cerevisiae (AR5). The level of volatile compounds at the end of fermentation was compared with the tequila standard regulation. All volatile compounds were within the allowed range except for methanol, which was higher for S. cerevisiae (AR5) and K. marxianus (GRO6). The variations in methanol may have been caused by the Agave tequilana used for the tests, since this compound is not synthesized by these yeasts.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Aguilar-Uscanga B, Arrizon J, Ramírez J, Solis-Pacheco J (2007) Effect of Agave tequilana juice on cell wall polysaccharide of three Saccharomyces cerevisiae strains from different origin. A Van Leeuw J Microb 91:151–157

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Aponte M, Ventorino V, Blaiotta G, Volpe G, Farina V, Avellone G, Lanza CM, Moschetti G (2010) Study of green Sicilian table olive fermentations through microbiological, chemical and sensory analyses. Food Microbiol 27:162–170

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Arellano M, Pelayo C, Ramírez J, Rodríguez I (2008) Characterization of kinetic parameters and the formation of volatile compounds during the tequila fermentation by wild yeasts isolated from agave juice. J Ind Microbiol Biotechnol 35:835–841

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Arrizon J, Gschaedler A (2002) Increasing fermentation efficiency at high sugar concentrations by supplementing an additional source of nitrogen during the exponential phase of the tequila fermentation process. Can J Microbiol 102:965–979

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Arrizon J, Gschaedler A (2007) Effects of the addition of different nitrogen sources in the tequila fermentation process at high sugar concentration. J Appl Microbiol 102:1123–1131

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Arrizon J, Fiore C, Acosta G, Romano P, Gschaedler A (2006) Fermentation behaviour and volatile compound production by agave and grape must yeasts in high sugar Agave tequilana and grape must fermentations. A Van Leeuw J Microb 89:181–189

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Bely M, Stoeckle P, Masneuf-Pomarède I, Dubourdieu D (2008) Impact of mixed Torulaspora delbrueckiiSaccharomyces cerevisiae culture on high-sugar fermentation. Int J Food Microbiol 122:312–320

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Cedeño M (1995) Tequila production. Crit Rev Biotechnol 15:1–11

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chamberlain G, Husnik J, Subden RE (1997) Freeze-desiccation survival in wild yeasts in the bloom of icewine grapes. Food Res Int 30:435–439

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Díaz-Montaño DM, Favela-Torres E, Córdova J (2010) Improvement of growth, fermentative efficiency and ethanol tolerance of Kloeckera africana during the fermentation of Agave tequilana juice by addition of yeast extract. J Sci Food Agric 90:321–328

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fiore C, Arrizon J, Gschaedler A, Flores J, Romano P (2005) Comparison between yeasts from grape and agave musts for traits of technological interest. World J Microb Biot 21:1141–1147

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Flikweert MT, van der Zanden L, Janssen WMTM, Steensma HY, van Dijken JP, Pronk JT (1996) Pyruvate descarboxylase: an indispensable enzyme for growth of Saccharomyces cerevisiae on glucose. Yeast 12:247–257

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Hernández-Cortés G, Córdova-López JA, Herrera-López EJ, Morán-Marroquín GA, Valle-Rodríguez JO, Díaz-Montaño DM (2010) Effect of pH, aeration and feeding non-sterilized agave juice in a continuous agave juice fermentation. J Sci Food Agric 90:1423–1428

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hurtado A, Reguant C, Esteve-Zarzoso B, Bordons A, Rozès N (2008) Microbial population dynamics during the processing of Arbequina table olives. Food Res Int 41:738–744

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Lappe-Oliveras P, Moreno-Terrazas R, Arrizon-Gaviño J, Herrera-Suárez T, García-Mendoza A, Gschaedler-Mathis A (2008) Yeasts associated with the production of Mexican alcoholic nondistilled and distilled Agave beverages. FEMS Yeast Res 8:1037–1052

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Lilly M, Lambrechts MG, Pretorius IS (2000) Effect of increased yeast alcohol acetyltransferase activity on flavor profiles of wine and distillates. Appl Environ Microbiol 66:744–753

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • López-Alvarez A, Díaz-Perez AL, Sosa-Aguirre C, Macías-Rodríguez L, Campos-García J (2012) Ethanol yield and volatile compound content in fermentation of agave must by Kluyveromyces marxianus UMPe-1 comparing with Saccharomyces cerevisiae baker’s yeast used in tequila production. J Biosci Bioeng 113:614–618. doi:10.1016/j.jbiosc.2011.12.015

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • NMX-V-004-NORMEX-2005 (2006) Bebidas Alcohólicas-Determinación de Furfural-Métodos de Ensayo (Prueba). Publicada en el Diario Oficial de la Federación el 23 de junio de 2005

  • NMX-V-005-NORMEX-2005 (2006) Bebidas Alcohólicas-Determinación de aldehídos, ésteres, metanol y alcoholes superiores-Métodos de Ensayo (Prueba). Publicada en el Diario Oficial de la Federación el 23 de junio de 2005

  • NMX-V-006-NORMEX-2005 (2006) Bebidas Alcohólicas-Determinación de azúcares reductores directos y totales-Métodos de Ensayo (Prueba). Publicada en el Diario Oficial de la Federación el 23 de junio de 2005

  • NMX-V-013-NORMEX-2005 (2006) Bebidas Alcohólicas-Determinación del contenido alcohólico (por ciento de alcohol en volumen a 293 K) (20°C) (% Alc. Vol.)-Métodos de Ensayo (Prueba) Publicada en el Diario Oficial de la Federación el 23 de junio de 2005

  • NOM-006-SCFI-2005 (2006) Bebidas Alcohólicas Tequila Especificaciones. Secretaría de Economía. Publicada en el Diario Oficial de la Federación el 6 de enero de 2006

  • Oliveira M, Brito D, Catulo L, Leitao F, Gomes L, Silva S, Vilas-Boas L, Peito A, Fernandes I, Gordo F, Peres C (2004) Biotechnology of olive fermentation of ‘Galega’ Portuguese variety. Grasas Aceites 55:219–226

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Pinal L, Cedeño M, Gutiérrez H, Alvarez-Jacobs J (1997) Fermentation parameters influencing higher alcohol production in the tequila process. Biotechnol Lett 19:13–56

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pinal L, Cornejo E, Arellano M, Herrera E, Nuñez L, Arrizon J, Gschaedler A (2009) Effect of Agave tequilana age, cultivation field location and yeast strain on tequila fermentation process. J Ind Microbiol Biotechnol 36:655–661

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Postgate JR (1969) Viable counts and viability. Methods Microbiol 1(611):628

    Google Scholar 

  • Prado-Ramírez R, González-Alvarez V, Pelayo-Ortiz C, Casillas N, Estarrón M, Gómez-Hernández H (2005) The role of distillation on the tequila quality. Int J Food Sci Technol 40:701–708

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pronk JT, Steensma HY, Van Dijken JP (1996) Pyruvate metabolism in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Yeast 12:1607–1633

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Ramírez-Córdova J, Drnevich J, Madrigal-Pulido JA, Javier A, Kirk A, Martínez-Velazquez M, Alvarez-Maya I (2012) Transcriptome analysis identified genes involved in ethanol response of Saccharomyces cerevisiae in Agave tequilana juice. A Van Leeuw J Micro 102:247–255

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Romano P, Fiore C, Paraggio M, Caruso M, Capece A, Robson AB (2003) Function of yeast species and strains in wine flavour. Int J Food Microbiol 86:169–180

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Sangorrín MP, Lopes CA, Giraudo MR, Caballero AC (2007) Diversity and killer behaviour of indigenous yeasts isolated from the fermentation vat surfaces in four Patagonian wineries. Int J Food Microbiol 119:351–357

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sharma AK, Sawant SD, Adsule PG, Rajguru YR (2009) Comparison of commercial and locally identified yeast strains in relation to young wine quality of Cabernet Sauvignon. S Afr J Enol Vitic 30:148–150

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Sharma AK, Singh PN, Sawant SD (2011) Evaluation of fermentation efficiency of yeast strains and their effect on quality of young wines. Indian J Microbiol 11:1–5

    Google Scholar 

  • Souza-Oliveira E, Bolini-Cardello HMA, Marques-Jeronimo E, Rocha-Souza EL, Serra GE (2005) The influence of different yeasts on fermentation, composition and sensory quality of cachaça. World J Microb Biot 21:707–715

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Urit T, Stukert A, Bley T, Loser C (2012) Formation of ethyl acetate by Kluyveromyces marxianus on whey during aerobic batch cultivation at specific trace element limitation. Appl Microbiol Biotechnol 96(5):1313–1323

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank the tequila company: La Madrileña S.A. de C.V. for its support. We would also like to thank John Dye and Matt Pickler of Peace Corps México for revising the language of the manuscript.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to A. Gschaedler.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Amaya-Delgado, L., Herrera-López, E.J., Arrizon, J. et al. Performance evaluation of Pichia kluyveri, Kluyveromyces marxianus and Saccharomyces cerevisiae in industrial tequila fermentation. World J Microbiol Biotechnol 29, 875–881 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11274-012-1242-8

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11274-012-1242-8

Keywords

Navigation