Changes in wine yeast storage carbohydrate levels during preadaptation, rehydration and low temperature fermentations

The metabolism of glycogen and trehalose was analysed in a wine yeast strain fermenting at 25 and 13 °C. Trehalose and glycogen degradation were completed during the lag phase of fermentation. Ammonia was taken up rapidly and once it had been reduced to negligible amounts, the synthesis of trehalose started. Glycogen followed a similar pattern. If trehalose synthesis was taken as a stress indicator, the fermentation at 13 °C could not be considered stressful because the maximum concentrations are similar at both temperatures. In industrial fermentations, and after a preadaptation in grape must for several hours at 18 °C, the lag phase was reduced significantly, and this may be why trehalose and glycogen were completely depleted at the beginning of the low temperature fermentation. Various preadaptation conditions were tested so that their influence on trehalose and glycogen degradation could be determined. The presence of fermentable carbon sources, such as glucose or fructose, triggered the mobilisation and use of trehalose. However, just increasing the osmotic pressure did not reduce the trehalose content. No such differences were observed in glycogen metabolism.