Understanding the microbial ecosystem on the grape berry surface through numeration and identification of yeast and bacteria

By V. Renouf, Olivier Claisse, A. Lonvaud-Funel. 2005

222 citations recorded by the source corpus.

Microbial species present on the surface of grape berries at harvest play an important role in winemaking, thus counting and identifying them is of great importance. The use of conventional microbial techniques and molecular methods allowed a quantitative and qualitative inventory of the different microbial species present on the grape berries. These experiments were carried out in several areas of the Bordeaux region on the red grape varieties Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc. Populations and species clearly varied according to berry development stage. The most widespread yeast species at berry set, Aureobasidium pullulans was never detected at harvest. Fermentative yeasts were detected at harvest and not in the first stage of grape growth. Oenoccocus oeni was detected on immature as well as on mature berries. Gluconobacter oxydans was detected mainly at harvest. Detection of Pediococcus parvulus, was dependent on the vineyard. Veraison appeared to be a key stage for yeast colonisation and the increase in population involved a change in the proportion of each species. The number of A. pullulans fell significantly at veraison as it was superseded by fermentative yeasts. Microbial populations peaked at harvest when the berry surface available for adhesion was largest and no agrochemical treatments had been applied for some weeks. Soil, grape variety and grapegrowing practices may also influence this microbial ecosystem. Based on these and published data, we formulated hypotheses to describe this microbial ecosystem, thus enabling us to develop the concept of a microbial biofilm.

Subfields: Cell Biology, Food Science, Plant Science

View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/80748660b91a7f1948d9829ec5e31f9e18f1400a

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Citations in the corpus

The role and use of non-saccharomyces yeasts in wine production (2017, background): “It has been shown that yeast populations are higher when no agrochemicals have been applied for some time (Renouf et al., 2005).”
The microbial ecology of wine grape berries. (2012, background): “oeni also required this type of approach using washing solutions (Renouf et al., 2005) or enrichment broths (Renouf et al.”
Microbial biogeography of wine grapes is conditioned by cultivar, vintage, and climate (2013, background): “Relationships between grape variety and the abundance of yeast (35, 36) and bacterial species (37) on berry surfaces have been documented previously on very limited scales, but not statistically demonstrated.”
Not your ordinary yeast: non-Saccharomyces yeasts in wine production uncovered. (2014, background): “The ability of winerelated non-Saccharomyces to form biofilms is not well researched, but it has been suggested that yeast cells on the surfaces of grape berries may interact in a biofilm system (Renouf et al., 2005).”
The Multiple and Versatile Roles of Aureobasidium pullulans in the Vitivinicultural Sector (2018, background): “pullulans exhibits reduction of Botrytis cinerea growth on the surface of table grape berries [13].”
A Review of Selection Criteria for Starter Culture Development in the Food Fermentation Industry (2020, background): “the bacteria necessary to aid in the conversion of these materials into fermented cheese and sausage, respectively, constituting a part of the ‘house flora’([42]) Grapes and grape crushing equipment contain yeasts responsible for the fermentation of sugars in ethanol for wine production.([43,44]) Ho”