Chemical and volatile composition of Pálinka produced using different commercial yeast strains of Saccharomyces cerevisiae

Pálinka is Hungarian traditional alcoholic drink, and its quality is strongly depending on applied yeast strain. Unfortunately, all commercial yeast strains used the production of pálinka are selected for oenological purpose, and thus the efficacy and aroma releasing capacity are vary depending on the type and quality of fruit used. In this study, the fermentation efficacy of nine commercial yeast strains of Saccharomyces cerevisiae was focused. All strains were able to do alcoholic fermentation of apple juice quite efficiently, and the simple sugars (fructose, glucose and sucrose) were almost exhausted at the end of fermentation. Meanwhile, the alcohol production capacity and yield were no significant differences (around 9.17 v/v %–9.43 v/v %), whereas the ability of sugar consumption of strains Uvaferm Danstil A and Fermicru AR2 was stronger than others. The differences in the concentration and composition of volatile compounds were recorded. The highest levels of total volatile compounds were observed in samples fermented with Uvaferm Danstil A, Fermiblanc Arom, Vin-O-Ferm Roses, and Fermicru AR2. Meanwhile total volatile compounds, 2-methyl-1-propanol, 3-methyl-1-butanol, total higher alcohols, ethyl acetate, and total esters were considered as key parameters for describing the profile of fermented apple juices, whereas total fusel alcohols, 2-methyl-1-propanol, 2-methyl-1-butanol, 3-methyl-1-butanol, and total volatile compounds were characteristic indicators of samples fermented with Uvaferm Danstil A. This work provides very good information of commercial yeast strains for industrial pálinka production.