Abstract
Yeast strain plays a central role in the formation of aroma and flavour of fruit wine. The effect of four commercial Saccharomyces cerevisiae strains (D254, VIC, BV818 and CECA) on volatile compounds of fermented pineapple (Ananas comosus L. Merr.) juice was investigated. Alcohols and esters were the most abundant groups in terms of the amounts of identified volatiles in four pineapple wines, followed by acids and sulphur compounds. Different S. cerevisiae strains possess various capacities to release or synthesize volatiles during pineapple wine fermentation. For global aroma, strain D254 yielded the highest total number and concentration of volatiles and could be used as a starter culture for the making of intense pineapple wine. Strain BV818 produced wine with the highest amounts of volatiles with OAVs > 1 and scored the highest in global aroma. Thus, BV818 might be the appropriate strain that could impart characteristic aromas and enhance wine complexity. The relative content of esters formed by strain VIC was higher than that yielded by the other strains. Strain CECA produced the highest relative contents of alcohols, aldehydes and ketones. However, VIC and CECA were not ideal starter cultures because of their low sense scores. This study provided a foundation for the production of pineapple wine with the desired flavour profile.