Variability of Tyrosol, Hydroxytyrosol and Tryptophol contents in Sangiovese wines produced by a single strain of Saccharomyces cerevisiae

Tyrosol, hydroxytyrosol and tryptophol are reported to possess several health-enhancing activities, deriving from their free radical scavenging, anticarcinogenic, cardioprotective and antimicrobial properties.

Tyrosol and tryptophol are produced by yeasts during alcoholic fermentation from the catabolism of amino acids tyrosine and tryptophan, respectively, whereas hydroxytyrosol is produced by hydroxylation of its precursor tyrosol.

Tyrosol and tryptophol are described as quorum sensing molecules in different yeast species. These aromatic alcohols allow S.cerevisiae to respond to both cell density and nutritional state of the environment.
The aim of this work was to investigate on the factors, other than yeast strain, affecting the accumulation of tyrosol, hydroxytyrosol and tryptophol in wine

Poster presented at Enoforum 2013, 7-9 May, Arezzo (Italy)