Food Safety and Regulatory Measures

Biography

Biography: Santiago Benito

Abstract

Even wine is a comfortable food product from a Food Safety point of view, due to the presence of ethanol and the lack of nutrients able to be assimilated by pathogenic microorganisms. During the last years it have been reported the presence of high levels of biogenic amines and ethylcarbamate in wines. These compounds can produce serious diseases in wine consumers, so new technologies in order to reduce their levels must be applied in winemaking. In recent years, interest in novel, specific uses of the Schizosaccharomyces genus in modern oenology has increased, even though it is not the most common yeast genus used in oenology. One important feature of Schizosaccharomyces is its ability to reduce the content in urea (main precursor of ethylcarbamate) during fermentation processes due to its high urease activity. Another important ability from a food safety point of view is this genus ability to consume malic acid contained in wines that is the main nutrient source of the lactic bacteria responsible of biogenic amines production in wine. These two points are of interest for food safety.