Application of Malolactic Fermentation in Wine Production

MLF is the necessary procedure in red grape wine production and the important approach to decrease acid content in wine. Malic acid is a kind of bicarboxylic acid with strong pungent smell and ordinary physical and chemical treatment could not eliminate it. MLF could effectively reduce malic acid in red grape wine by degrading malic acid and converting it into carboxylic lactic acid of soft taste. As a result, organic acid content in grape wine decreased, wine body harmony enhanced, and wine biostability and wine taste multiplicity promoted. In this paper, the mechanism of MLF, the microbes causing MLF, and the effects of MLF in grape wine production were introduced. Besides, the environmental factors and modern fermenting engineering techniques (stabilization techniques and membrane bioreactor) influencing MLF and the newly-developed MLF application and MLF development foreground were also discussed. (Tran. by YUE Yang)