The effect of sulfur dioxide addition at crush on the fungal and bacterial communities and the sensory attributes of Pinot gris wines.

Modern day winemaking often involves the addition of sulfur dioxide (SO2) at crush to act as both an antioxidant and an antimicrobial agent. While the effects of SO2 on microbial communities and particularly on spoilage microorganisms has been well-studied, the advent of culture-independent molecular technologies, such as Illumina sequencing, allows the subject to be re-visited in a new context. High-throughput amplicon sequencing allows for a more thorough evaluation of microbial communities, as thousands of microbial sequences per sample can be identified and even rare microorganisms can be studied. This research investigated whether the addition of different levels of SO2 at crush (0, 20, or 40 mg/L) would affect the composition of fungal and bacterial communities, as well as the sensory attributes of the resulting wines. Samples were taken from uninoculated fermentations of Pinot gris and analyzed via high-throughput amplicon sequencing using the Illumina MiSeq platform. Yeast relative abundance and overall fungal community composition differed among the SO2 additions. Notably, a Hanseniaspora yeast appeared in all treatments and persisted until the end of alcoholic fermentation, although its relative abundance was significantly higher in the fermentations to which low or no SO2 had been added. Two key wine sensory attributes (citrus aroma and pome fruit flavor) differed among the SO2 treatments. This research provides an in-depth look into the fungal and bacterial communities during alcoholic fermentation and gives a better understanding of the microbial community response to SO2 additions during the crush period.

The development of a stabbing machine for forensic textile damage analysis.

This article describes the development of a horizontal stabbing machine with an interchangeable knife holder to simulate stab events. The machine consists of a motorised arm with a pneumatic system designed to deliver 60 unique stabbing positions. The mechanics were robust and the positioning system highly reproducible with standard deviations of less than 1.0mm in the x-axis and 2.3mm in the y-axis for a given stab position. The force of the instrument may be varied by the operator to a maximum of approximately 221N. The suitability of the instrument for simulating stab events was evaluated by measuring the severance length and textile damage from stab delivered from four different knives and nine penetrating angles.

Sulfur dioxide addition at crush alters Saccharomyces cerevisiae strain composition in spontaneous fermentations at two Canadian wineries.

During winemaking, sulfur dioxide (SO2) is often added prior to the onset of alcoholic fermentation to prevent the growth of spoilage microorganisms and to create an environment that promotes the rapid colonization of the grape must by Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Most recent research has focused on the impacts of SO2 additions on spoilage microorganisms or on the yeast community at a species level, but less is known about the impacts that SO2 additions have on S. cerevisiae populations. We investigated whether different levels of SO2 addition at crush (0, 20, or 40mg/L SO2) have an effect upon the relative abundance and composition of S. cerevisiae strains conducting spontaneous fermentations of two grape varietals at two commercial wineries. Yeast isolates collected from fermentations were identified to the strain level using microsatellite analysis. Commercial strains made up the majority (64-98%) of the S. cerevisiae strains isolated during fermentation, and most of these commercial strains were used as inoculants by their respective wineries. Different SO2 additions were found to significantly alter S. cerevisiae strain compositions at both wineries (p≤0.002). The results of this study demonstrate that initial SO2 addition significantly alters the S. cerevisiae strain composition in spontaneous fermentations, and highlights the dominance of commercial strains in commercial winery environments. Because different yeast strains are known to produce different chemical and sensory profiles, our findings have important implications for winemakers. In addition, adding different concentrations of SO2 may be a way for winemakers to manage or control the strain composition during spontaneous fermentations.