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Fermentative capabilities of native yeast strains grown on juices from different Agave species used for tequila and mezcal production

  • Biotechnology and Industrial Microbiology - Research Paper
  • Published:
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Abstract

The Asparagaceae family is endemic from America, being the Agave genus the most important. The Agave species possess economic relevance and are use as raw material to produce several distilled alcoholic beverages, as bacanora, tequila, and mezcal. The fermentation process has been carry out either spontaneously or by adding a selected yeast strain. The latter is generally responsible for the production of ethanol and volatile compounds. This study comprised five Agave species (A. angustifolia, A. cupreata, A. durangensis, A. salmiana, and A. tequilana) and eight endogenous yeast strains: five of them were non-Saccharomyces (Torulaspora delbrueckii, Zygosaccharomyces bisporus, Candida ethanolica, and two Kluyveromyces marxianus) and three Saccharomyces cerevisiae strains. The results showed that the S. cerevisiae strains were not able to grow on A. durangensis and A. salmiana juices. The Kluyveromyces marxianus strains grew and fermented all the agave juices and displayed high ethanol production (48–52 g L−1) and volatile compounds. The ethanol production was higher on A. angustifolia juice (1.1–2.8-fold), whereas the volatile compound was dependent on both yeast strain and the Agave species. The use of endogenous non-Saccharomyces yeast strains is feasible, as they may outperform S. cerevisiae regarding the production of fermented beverages from agave plants with a high content of ethanol and aromatic compounds.

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Acknowledgments

Montserrat Alcazar would like to acknowledge CONACYT for the granted fellowship.

Funding

This work was supported by the National Research Council of Science and Technology of Mexico (Project SEP-CONACYT 24556).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Biotecnología Industrial, CIATEJ, Camino Arenero 1227, El Bajío, 45019, Zapopan, Jalisco, Mexico

    M. Alcazar-Valle, A. Gschaedler, A. Arana-Sanchez & M. Arellano-Plaza

  2. Centro Universitarios de Ciencias Exactas e Ingenierías, Universidad de Guadalajara, Blvd. Marcelino García Barragán #1421, esq. Calzada Olímpica, 44430, Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico

    H. Gutierrez-Pulido

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  1. M. Alcazar-Valle
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  2. A. Gschaedler
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  4. A. Arana-Sanchez
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Correspondence to M. Arellano-Plaza.

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Alcazar-Valle, M., Gschaedler, A., Gutierrez-Pulido, H. et al. Fermentative capabilities of native yeast strains grown on juices from different Agave species used for tequila and mezcal production. Braz J Microbiol 50, 379–388 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s42770-019-00049-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s42770-019-00049-7

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