ABSTRACT
Winemaking is an ancient art but is yet to be fully understood or mastered. For example, “stuck fermentations,” in which the fermentation of sugar in grape juice is incomplete, compromise avor and are costly to the industry. Recent advances in understanding membrane fatty acid function provide insight into why yeast (i.e., Saccharomyces cerevisiae) remodels its membrane phospholipids during fermentation, and why it is import in winemaking (Figure 16.1). Attention here is focused on a phospholipid conformation unique to fermentative yeast cells. We suggest that the paucity of similar structures in nature is based on their harmful and powerful energy uncoupling activity. We also suggest that while this phospholipid conformation is harmful for most cells, yeast harnesses these structures for their benet and, by happenstance, the benet of winemakers.
