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Mezcal: indigenous Saccharomyces cerevisiae strains and their potential as starter cultures

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Abstract

In this study, 19 indigenous mezcal Saccharomyces cerevisiae strains were screened for their tolerance to grow under different stress conditions and their potential use in fermentation. All strains were able to tolerate pH value of 3, significant levels of glucose (30%), ethanol (12% v/v), and temperature of 37 °C. Eleven of them were able to grow in presence of 15% of ethanol, but only CH7 and PA18 strains grew at 42 °C. Both were selected for evaluation of their fermentative abilities in maguey juice and in a synthetic medium incubated at 30 and 40 °C. Temperature of 40 °C had a positive effect on the ethanol production, increasing the productivity and efficiency in maguey fermentation. Ethyl acetate, isobutanol and isoamyl alcohols production was favored at 30 °C. Both evaluated strains presented a good fermentative capacity and production of volatile compounds, suggesting their potential use as starter cultures in mezcal fermentation.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by Dirección General de Asuntos del Personal Académico de la Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (DGAPA-UNAM), project IT-200812; and Programa de Apoyo a la Investigación y al posgrado (PAIP-UNAM), Project 50009100.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Departamento de Alimentos y Biotecnología, Facultad de Química, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, 04510, Mexico City, Mexico

    Francisco Ruiz-Terán, Paulina N. Martínez-Zepeda & Sara Y. Geyer-de la Merced

  2. Facultad de Ciencias Químicas, Universidad Autónoma Benito Juárez de Oaxaca, 68120, Oaxaca de Juárez, Oaxaca, Mexico

    Hipócrates Nolasco-Cancino

  3. Dirección de División de Carrera de Agricultura Sustentable y Protegida, Universidad Tecnológica de los Valles Centrales de Oaxaca, 71270, Zimatlán, Oaxaca, Mexico

    Jorge A. Santiago-Urbina

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  1. Francisco Ruiz-Terán
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  2. Paulina N. Martínez-Zepeda
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  3. Sara Y. Geyer-de la Merced
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Correspondence to Jorge A. Santiago-Urbina.

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Ruiz-Terán, F., Martínez-Zepeda, P.N., Geyer-de la Merced, S.Y. et al. Mezcal: indigenous Saccharomyces cerevisiae strains and their potential as starter cultures. Food Sci Biotechnol 28, 459–467 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10068-018-0490-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10068-018-0490-2

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