Autochthonous yeasts isolated in Tenerife wines and their influence on ethyl acetate and higher alcohol concentrations analyzed by gas chromatography

: A taxonomic study of yeasts present on Tenerife wines, (Tacoronte-Acentejo Specific Denomination) has been carried out. Nine species of the genera: Saccharomyces, Torulaspora, Brettanomyces, Kluyveromyces, Debaryomyces, Saccharomycodes, Hansenula, Pichia and Candida have been isolated. Parallely we analysed volatile compounds of the wines such as ethyl acetate, methanol, isobutanol and amylic alcohols by gas chromatography. Appreciable quantities of ethyl acetate were detected due to the low fermentative power of species such as Candida glabrata and Debaryomyces hansenii. The greatest concentration of amylic alcohols were found in wines containing yeast with high alcohol producing power like Saccharomyces cerevisiae.