Project description
Reducing volatile sulphur compounds for better wine
Wine spoilage causes economic losses and raises sustainability concerns. Volatile sulphur compounds (VSCs) play a key role in wine quality. Most lead to undesirable faults like cabbage or rotten egg odours. Current methods for detecting these compounds fall short, and there is no model to understand sulphur metabolism in wine. Supported by the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions programme, the REDUSULF-Wine project aims to develop effective strategies to accurately measure and manage VSCs during fermentation. The project will identify the sources of VSCs, track their production in real time with a monitoring device, and create model-based approaches to predict and control their formation. The results will help improve quality control and boost production efficiency.
Objective
Wine spoilage poses a significant threat to the global wine industry, leading to substantial economic losses and jeopardising its sustainability. This sector is already under strain, contending with issues including climate change, global competition, increasing production costs, declining consumption and evolving consumer preferences. Volatile Sulphur Compounds (VSCs) influence wine quality with their abundance and low perception threshold. While some VSCs enhance wine aromatic complexity, most of them cause negative wine faults such as aromas of cabbage and rotten eggs leading to discarded wine and substantial economic losses. Despite their significance, current methods for detecting and quantifying VSCs (particularly light VSCs) are inadequate. Additionally, a comprehensive model of sulfur metabolism is lacking. This project aims to develop innovative strategies for the accurate quantification, assessment, and management of VSCs during wine fermentation. The specific objectives are: (1) to identify VSC origins and characterise their production dynamics using a novel real-time monitoring device; (2) to assess sulfur compound flux distribution within yeast metabolic networks; and (3) to create the first model-based strategies for predicting and controlling VSC formation. The project includes a secondment to experts at the CSIC in Spain, where I will refine the model. This experience will significantly enhance my skills in analytical techniques and metabolic modelling while expanding my professional network and career prospects. The results of the project will offer valuable tools for both researchers in yeast metabolism and the wine industry, leading to improvements in quality control and production efficiency to mitigate the challenges faced. This pioneering research will provide a solid foundation for future projects in yeast metabolism and winemaking where the developed tools can be utilised.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: https://op.europa.eu/en/web/eu-vocabularies/euroscivoc.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: https://op.europa.eu/en/web/eu-vocabularies/euroscivoc.
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Programme(s)
- HORIZON.1.2 - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) Main Programme
Funding Scheme
HORIZON-TMA-MSCA-PF-EF - HORIZON TMA MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships - European FellowshipsCoordinator
34090 Montpellier
France