Fruit Microbial Communities of the Bisucciu Sardinian Apricot Cultivar (Prunus armeniaca L.) as a Reservoir of New Brewing Starter Strains

Local fruit cultivars may improve the originality of specialty beers both directly, by conferring peculiar tastes and flavors, and indirectly, as a reservoir of new starter strains. Accordingly, the fungal and bacterial communities of Bisucciu fruit, a Sardinian apricot cultivar used to produce a local fruit beer, were here investigated by culture-dependent methods. From the 16S rDNA and ITS sequence analyses of 68 epiphytic isolates, 5 bacterial species and 19 fungal species were identified. Aureobasidium pullulans and Rhodotorula glutinis were the dominant fungal species, while Enterococcus mundtii (Firmicutes) and Frigoribacterium faeni (Actinobacteria) were the most represented species among bacterial isolates. Enrichment cultures of fresh apricot puree, followed by fermentation trials in beer wort and beer wort added with apricot puree, allowed the selection of four isolates of Pichia kudriavzevii, Hanseniaspora uvarum, H. pseudoguilliermondii, and H. clermontiae able to dominate over the Bisucciu native microbiota and to produce from 0.57% to 0.74% (vol/vol) of ethanol. HS-SPME-GC/MS analysis highlighted a significant increase in the ester and alcohol fractions as well as a reduction in terpenes after fermentation with the selected yeasts. Results obtained suggest that the yeast isolates may contribute to the definition of the taste and flavor of beers when used in mixed fermentations with Saccharomyces.