Aroma Profile of Apple Spirits Fermented With non-Saccharomyces Yeasts and Their Dynamic Changes During Maturation

Abstract

Recently, non-Saccharomyces yeasts have gained considerable attention as a novel strategy to enhance the aroma diversity of alcoholic beverages. This study explores the effect of sequential fermentations involving Lachancea thermotolerans and Torulaspora delbrueckii on the aroma profile of apple spirits. Additionally, the influence of time, temperature, and alcohol content on the volatile composition during the maturation of distillates was described. The results revealed that distillates obtained from mixed cultures exhibited improved aroma complexity, primarily due to increased ester production. Torulaspora delbrueckii positively influenced the synthesis of 2-phenethyl acetate, diethyl succinate, and hexyl acetate. Lachancea thermotolerans promoted the formation of ethyl lactate, ethyl myristate, and ethyl phenylacetate while reducing the concentration of higher alcohols. During maturation, changes in aroma constituents were observed. In general, the concentration of the investigated volatile compounds tends to decrease during maturation, with this trend being strongly related to the alcohol content of the distillates. Temperature did not affect the variations of methanol, acetaldehyde, 1-propanol, 2-butanol, 2-methyl-1-butanol, cis-2-hexen-1-ol, and diethyl succinate. Regarding esters, increases were observed in the concentration of ethyl octanoate, ethyl myristate, and, under certain circumstances, ethyl acetate and isoamyl acetate. No correlation was found between changes in acetaldehyde and the conditions tested.

Keywords:

• Apple spirit
• maturation
• non-Saccharomyces yeasts
• Pálinka
• sequential fermentation
• volatile compounds

Acknowledgments

We acknowledge the support provided by the Stipendium Hungaricum Programme and the Doctoral School of Food Science at the Hungarian University of Agriculture and Life Sciences.

Disclosure statement

The authors report there are no competing interests to declare.

Data availability statement

The data presented in this study are available on request from the corresponding author.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the New Széchenyi Plan Project No. EFOP-3.6.3.-VEKOP-16-2017-00005 and Project No. GINOP-2.2.1-18-2020-00025; National Research, Development, and Innovation Office Project No. TKP2021-NVA-22; and the project ‘Preparation for the transition to circular economy in the case of agricultural and green waste’ of the Environment and Energy Efficiency Operational Programme grant scheme of the Ministry of Technology and Industry of Hungary under Grant no. KEHOP-3.2.1-15-2021-00037.