Congratulations Viwe Tyibilika!

On Oct 4^th @Viwe Tyibilika brilliantly defended his thesis entitled “Exploring the management of redox status in wine yeast species: impact on the production of aromatic compounds” at the University of Stellenbosch.

This thesis, co-financed by Lallemand Oenology and SA Wine, was carried out as part of a collaboration between the UMR Sciences pour l’œnologie, INRAE, University of Montpellier, the Institut Agro Montpellier and the South African Grape and Wine Research Institute, the University of Stellenbosch, under joint supervision between the two universities.

Congratulations also to his thesis supervisors Dr. Carole CAMARASA and Pr. Benoit DIVOL.

Viwe’s research is providing new insights into the metabolism of non-Saccharomyces yeasts and what differentiates them from Saccharomyces in terms of their fermentative capacity, as well as the effect of certain vitamins on the fermentative capacity of yeasts.

Main key take aways of his thesis are:

Unlike S. cerevisiae, certain non-Saccharomyces species struggle to ferment due to insufficient NAD⁺ regeneration. NAD⁺  is a cofactor (or co-enzyme) involved in a number of essential metabolic pathways, necessary for cells to function properly.

Each yeast’s distinct redox metabolism results in different metabolites production and fermentation performance. Environmental parameters such as oxygen, vitamins have been evaluated showing an impact on the redox balance of the studied non-Saccharomyces. For instance, it has been shown that specific vitamins deficiency results in poor fermentative efficiency and altered metabolic footprint.