Impact of Commercial Yeasts on Phenolic Profile of Plavac Mali Wines from Croatia

Abstract

Wine quality is influenced by the presence of over 500 different chemical compounds, with polyphenols having a crucial role in color intensity and tonality, astringency, mouthfeel, and overall impression formation, especially in red wine production. Their concentrations in wine can vary notably depending on the grape variety, the temperature and the length of maceration process, aging duration, and yeast selection. Therefore, in this work, the main goal was to determine the influence of five commercially available Saccharomyces yeasts provided from Lallemand, France and AEB, Italy, on the phenolic compound composition and chromatic parameters of Plavac mali wines produced from the grapes from coastal Dalmatia, grown at two different micro-locations. The achieved results pointed out the marked difference in individual polyphenol compound adsorption between tested yeasts. Fermol Super 16 was the one with the lowest and Lalvin D21 the strongest adsorption ability, regardless of vine growing location. These differences can be explained by the content of some anthocyanins (delphinidin and petunidin-3-O-glucoside) and gallic acid, and some flavan-3-ols. Tested strains also influenced wine color intensity, pointing out the possibility of modulating the style of a Plavac mali by the use of commercial yeasts.