Effect of yeast species on the terpenoids profile of Chinese light-style liquor

Terpenoids are important trace flavour constituents in Chinese light-style liquors, and are formed by the various yeast species present during fermentation of liquor from cereal and legume materials. Saccharomyces cerevisiae, Pichia kudriavzevii and Wickerhamomyces anomalus are three such yeast species, and we found S. cerevisiae capable of generating thirteen different terpenoids in cereal and legume extract fermentation, by both de novo and biotransformation pathways. We also found that cereals such as sorghum and barley, and legumes such as peas, contained different terpenoids precursors, which differentially affected the formation and profile of terpenoids mixtures. This work gives new insights into the role of yeast species in generating the various terpenoids mixtures found in Chinese light-style liquors.