$^1H$ NMR-Based Metabolomic Approach for Understanding the Fermentation Behaviors of Wine Yeast Strains

$^1H$ NMR spectroscopy coupled with multivariate statistical analysis was used for the first time to investigate metabolic changes in musts during alcoholic fermentation and wines during ageing. Three Saccharomyces cerevisiae yeast strains (RC-212, KIV-1116 and KUBY-501) were also evaluated for their impacts on the metabolic changes in must and wine. Pattern recognition (PR) methods, including PCA, PLS-DA and OPLS-DA scores plots, showed clear differences for metabolites among musts or wines for each fermentation stage up to 6 months. Metabolites responsible for the differentiation were identified to valine, 2,3-butanediol (2,3-BD), pyruvate, succinate, proline, citrate, glycerol, malate, tartarate, glucose, N-methylnicotinic acid (NMNA), and polyphenol compounds. PCA scores plots showed continuous movements away from days 1 to 8 in all musts for all yeast strains, indicating continuous and active fermentation. During alcoholic fermentation, highest levels of 2,3-BD, succinate and glycerol were found in musts with the KIV-1116 strain, which showed the fastest fermentation or highest fermentative activity of the 3 strains, whereas the KUBY-501 strain showed the slowest fermentative activity. This study highlights the applicability of NMR-based metabolomics for monitoring wine fermentation and evaluating the fermentative characteristics of yeast strains.