Evolution of aroma compounds in sparkling ciders

This paper reports the influence of yeast strain and aging time on the volatile composition of sparkling cider made according to the traditional method. Two sparkling ciders were obtained from the same base cider using a selected cider yeast strain (Saccharomyces bayanus) and a commercial wine yeast strain (Saccharomyces cerevisiae). Analysis of volatile compounds (alcohols, esters and carbonylic compounds) were performed every 3 months, from 3 to 15 months. The analysis of variance revealed that the majority of differences between sparkling ciders are due to the aging time. Acetaldehyde and acetoin decrease with time, while higher alcohols, ethyl acetate, ethyl lactate and ethyl octanoate significantly increase during aging in contact with lees. The concentrations of methanol, 2-phenyletanhol, ethyl lactate and ethyl octanoate were higher in the cider made with the selected yeast strain (S. bayanus).