Effect of nitrogen addition during alcoholic fermentation on the final content of biogenic amines in wine

One aspiration of the wine industry is to control technological factors in order to produce wines with low biogenic amines content. Among these factors, amino acids and ammonium ions are essential nutrients for the growth of yeasts and lactic acid bacteria during alcoholic and malolactic fermentation, but they are also potential biogenic amine precursors. Nitrogen is often a limiting nutrient for Saccharomyces cerevisiae during batch alcoholic fermentation and must occasionally be modified. This action, however, can be contradictory with the aim of controlling biogenic amine content. Rationalised to nitrogen addition, fermentation experiments at the pilot scale (100 L) were performed using grapes (Syrah and Grenache) obtained from the Rhone Valley, by varying the concentration and type of nitrogen added. The purpose of this work was to assess the effect of nitrogen addition on the final concentration of biogenic amines under wine-making conditions. We showed that, in fact, the addition of nitrogen allows rapid fermentation, limiting bacterial growth. The impact of this supplement, however, is an enrichment of precursors. Our results demonstrate that these two opposing mechanisms are translated into reality by increasing the final concentration of biogenic amines.