Flavor profile and quality of strawberry wine are improved through sequential fermentation with indigenous non-Saccharomyces yeasts and Saccharomyces cerevisiae

In order to explore novel producing strategies for enhancing flavor compounds profile and quality of strawberry wine, we studied the effect of the sequential fermentation of two selected indigenous non-Saccharomyces yeasts (Hanseniaspora uvarum PGR9 and Kurtzmaniella quercitrusa PGT1) and Saccharomyces cerevisiae CGMCC 2.3854 on the fermentation kinetics, physicochemical characteristics, organic acids, antioxidant activity, volatile compositions, and sensory properties. Results showed that the ethanol content produced by the fermentation of Kq-Sc was significantly lower than that of Sc pure fermentation. In addition, the total volatile compounds concentration produced by the fermentation of Hu-Sc (16.2 ± 3.6 mg/L) and Kq-Sc (19.5 ± 3.1 mg/L) were significantly higher than that of Sc pure fermentation (13.8 ± 2.0 mg/L). In particular, the Kq-Sc strawberry wine presented the highest number of relative odor-active compounds (rOAV ≥1). Moreover, strawberry wine fermented by Hu + Kq-Sc showed the highest ABTS free radical scavenging ability and the highest overall sensory qualities. The results indicated that the K. quercitrusa PGT1 strain could be an alternative yeast for producing strawberry wine, and the sequential fermentations of Kq-Sc and Hu + Kq-Sc were effective strategies for improving the flavor and quality of strawberry wine.