Scientia Agricultura Sinica ›› 2026, Vol. 59 ›› Issue (5): 1101-1110.doi: 10.3864/j.issn.0578-1752.2026.05.014

• FOOD SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Effect of Alcohol-Malolactic Three-Strain Co-Fermentation Mediated by Lactobacillus brevis LB-21 on the Color of Dry Red Wine

ZHU JiaWei1(), GUAN Xuan2, RAO BoHan2, LIU XiuHai3, FAN GuoYuan3, WU Yun1(), TAO YongSheng2()   

  1. 1 College of Food Science and Pharmacy, Xinjiang Agricultural University, Urumqi 830052
    2 College of Enology, Northwest A&F University, Yangling 712100, Shaanxi
    3 Turpan Loulan Winery Co., Ltd., Turpan 838200, Xinjiang
  • Received:2025-08-21 Accepted:2025-10-14 Online:2026-03-01 Published:2026-03-06
  • Contact: WU Yun, TAO YongSheng

Abstract:

【Objective】 This study aimed to investigate the effect of alcoholic-malolactic co-fermentation mediated by Lactobacillus brevis (LB-21) on the color quality of dry red wine, to provide the data support for optimizing this technology.【Method】 Using Marselan grapes from Turpan, Xinjiang, as raw material, alcoholic-malolactic co-fermentation treatments were designed with mixed inoculation of Saccharomyces cerevisiae SC-19, Pichia fermentans Z9Y-3, and lactic acid bacteria (Lactobacillus brevis LB-21 or Oenococcus oeni SD-2a). Concurrently, traditional sequential alcohol-malolactic fermentation group and single alcohol fermentation group served as the controls. After fermentation, the wines underwent conventional stabilization and were stored until June of the following year. Spectrophotometric methods were used to determine CIElab color parameters (L*, a*, b*, C*ab, hab, etc.) and multiple pigment indicators, including 520 pigment (520P), chromaticity of free anthocyanins (FA), total pigment (TP), polymeric pigment (PP), percentage of polymeric pigments (PP%), total phenols, and tartrate esters. Principal Component Analysis (PCA) was employed to identify key compounds responsible for color differences among the wine samples, and Orthogonal Partial Least Squares Discriminant Analysis (OPLS-DA) was used to investigate compounds distinguishing the color characteristics of co-fermented samples.【Result】 Color differences among the wine samples primarily centered on CIElab parameter hue angle (hab) and pigment indicators such as 520P and TP. Compared with single alcohol fermentation, alcohol-malolactic fermentation increased red hue (a*) and color saturation (C*ab) by 3.69%-13.74% and 7.24%-19.77%, respectively, and TP increased by 27.52%-47.41%, and PP by 4.39%-34.12%, respectively, significantly enhancing color stability (P<0.05). However, total anthocyanins and free anthocyanin levels decreased by 20.60%-25.69% and 14.03%-38.59%, respectively. PCA results indicated that under the alcoholic-malolactic co-fermentation treatment, the Lactobacillus brevis LB-21 group significantly outperformed the Oenococcus oeni SD-2a group in key indicators, including a*, C*ab, TP, PP, and PP% (P<0.05). OPLS-DA analysis confirmed that L*, a*, C*ab, hab, ΔEab, and PP% were key color difference indicators in LB-21-mediated co-fermented wine samples, indicating this strain’s significant advantage in maintaining dry red wine color.【Conclusion】 Alcohol-malolactic three-strain co-fermentation, particularly the treatment mediated by Lactobacillus brevis LB-21, significantly enhanced a*, TP, and PP in dry red wine, improved color stability, and outperformed traditional fermentation models in key color parameters. The optimized strain LB-21 and its application technology demonstrated substantial practical value for enhancing dry red wine fermentation processes.

Key words: Lactobacillus brevis, alcoholic-malolactic co-fermentation, dry red wine, CIElab, characteristic differential substances

Table 1

Routine physicochemical indexes of wine samples"

指标
Index
酒精发酵
AF (CK)
顺序酒精-苹乳
发酵-LB
SMLB
顺序酒精-苹乳
发酵-SD
SMSD
酒精-苹乳
共发酵-LB
CMLB
酒精-苹乳
共发酵-SD
CMSD
挥发酸 Volatile acid (g·L-1) 0.35±0.01e 0.46±0.01d 0.48±0.01c 0.77±0.01b 0.80±0.01a
总酸 Total acid (g·L-1) 3.61±0.02c 4.20±0.04a 4.20±0.03a 4.23±0.02a 4.14±0.02b
pH 3.86±0.01c 3.84±0.02c 3.85±0.02c 3.91±0.02b 3.97±0.02a
酒度 Alcohol(% vol) 11.92±0.02a 11.89±0.03a 11.84±0.03b 10.93±0.03d 11.09±0.01c
残糖 Residue sugar (g·L-1) 2.10±0.01b 2.01±0.01c 2.20±0.01a 1.10±0.01d 2.10±0.00b

Table 2

CIElab parameters of wine samples"

项目
Item
酒精发酵
AF (CK)
顺序酒精-苹乳
发酵-LB
SMLB
顺序酒精-苹乳
发酵-SD
SMSD
酒精-苹乳
共发酵-LB
CMLB
酒精-苹乳
共发酵-SD
CMSD
L* 47.12±1.32c 49.81±0.54b 49.34±1.87bc 51.07±1.71b 58.68±0.87a
a* 33.04±1.24b 37.58±1.26a 34.26±1.00b 30.89±1.06c 25.92±0.93d
b* 5.67±0.19c 14.09±1.35a 10.90±0.34b 13.68±0.18a 13.20±0.23a
C*ab 33.52±1.25c 40.15±1.36a 35.95±1.00b 33.78±1.05c 29.08±0.93d
hab (°) 9.75±0.21e 20.54±1.80c 17.65±0.56d 23.90±0.44b 27.00±0.49a
ΔEab - 10.02±0.76b 5.84±0.39d 9.20±0.38c 15.53±0.45a

Fig. 1

CIElab color and luminance distribution chart for wine samples AF: Alcohol fermentation; SMLB: Alcohol fermentation and then malolactic fermentation-LB-21; SMSD: Alcohol fermentation and then malolactic fermentation-SD-2a; CMLB: Alcohol and malolactic co-fermentation-LB-21; CMSD: Alcohol and malolactic co-fermentation-SD-2a. The same as below"

Table 3

Pigment indices of wine samples"

项目
Item
酒精发酵
AF (CK)
顺序酒精-苹乳
发酵-LB
SMLB
顺序酒精-苹乳
发酵-SD
SMSD
酒精-苹乳
共发酵-LB
CMLB
酒精-苹乳
共发酵-SD
CMSD
520色度 520 Pigment (520P) 8.36±0.05c 9.13±0.11b 10.96±0.01a 6.85±0.05e 7.17±0.10d
总色素 Total pigment (TP) 3.67±0.05d 5.41±0.10a 4.68±0.02b 3.80±0.05c 3.33±0.02e
聚合色素 Polymeric pigment (PP) 2.96±0.02c 3.97±0.01a 3.09±0.01b 3.07±0.01b 2.49±0.05d
聚合色素占比 Percentage of polymeric pigments (PP, %) 80.65±0.55a 73.31±0.10c 65.98±0.41d 80.78±0.00a 74.60±0.28b
游离花色苷 Free anthocyanins (FA) 5.70±0.10a 4.90±0.10b 3.50±0.10c 3.20±0.30c 2.20±0.20d
颜色强度 Color intensity (CI) 9.70±0.10c 11.20±0.10a 10.40±0.10b 9.80±0.10c 8.10±0.10d
色调 Tone (T) 1.01±0.01c 0.80±0.01e 0.85±0.01d 1.12±0.01a 1.07±0.00b

Table 4

Phenolic content of wine samples"

指标
Index (mg·L-1)
酒精发酵
AF (CK)
顺序酒精-苹乳
发酵-LB
SMLB
顺序酒精-苹乳
发酵-SD
SMSD
酒精-苹乳
共发酵-LB
CMLB
酒精-苹乳
共发酵-SD
CMSD
总酚 Total phenols 1220.9±11.4a 1031.3±10.8d 1099.0±11.8b 1059.0±12.2c 779.0±9.7e
单宁 Tannin 2121.5±10.0a 1795.8±13.8c 1395.8±11.6d 1905.1±13.8b 1216.6±15.1e
总花色苷 Total anthocyanins 239.3±14.4a 177.8±10.1b 190.0±9.8b 153.3±12.0c 127.8±10.4d
黄酮醇 Flavonol 736.7±5.6b 651.5±3.2e 684.8±3.2c 753.3±5.6a 662.6±3.2d
酒石酸酯 Tartrate ester 944.7±6.6a 801.4±6.8c 860.6±4.2b 771.8±3.2d 653.2±4.6e
黄烷-3-醇 Flavan-3-ols 306.6±7.4a 308.5±5.5a 308.9±6.6a 308.9±4.4a 305.3±8.6a

Fig. 2

Loadings of color index on the first two PCs and samples’ distribution"

Fig. 3

Model cross-validation results (A) and VIP value chart (B)"

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