Happy Yeasts, Happy Wines

Hi fellow yeast enthusiasts,

Have you ever felt irritable, tired and miserable? You could be low on Omega acids! I know you might be like, "what are those"?

 These are essential fats required for preventing heart disease, increasing "healthy fats" within the human body, promoting healthy skin and overall well being.

Amazingly, yeasts also need these compounds to produce good quality wines. Let me tell you how....

This image was obtained from an article licensed under a CC-BY-NC-SA 4.0 license.

The plasma membrane of a yeast serves as a strict barrier between the external environment, just like your skin and is composed of various classes of fatty acids. During alcoholic fermentation which is the primary process required for winemaking, an array of stress conditions arise and yeast survival is linked to a highly functional plasma membrane.

Omega acids such as alpha-linolenic acid are especially important in the membrane of wine yeasts because they enhance resistance to high sugar stress in grape juice and improve the maintenance of structural integrity as ethanol accumulates during fermentation. Furthermore, these fatty acids are precursors to desirable aroma compounds such as ethyl esters and higher alcohols.

When these essential fatty acids are missing, the yeasts dies off and the winemaker is left with bad quality wine. Therefore, the winemakers add lipid containing nutrients to highly clarified grape to improve the fermentation rate and final product.

So there you go folks, nourishing your yeasts is like nourishing your wines. Happy yeasts, happy wines!

via GIPHY