Enartis

In recent years, yeast nutrition has emerged as a strategic process variable, going beyond its traditional role of merely supporting growth and ensuring the smooth progression of fermentation.

Today, the concept of balanced nutrition and its role in fermentation management are well established in the winemaking world. However, a new and crucial dimension has recently gained prominence: the role of oxygen.

Oxygen, once thought of as unnecessary to yeast health, is now understood to be a nutrient in its own right. Its availability directly affects yeast growth, resistance to stress, and the ability to maintain stable and regular fermentation kinetics. This expanded view of nutrition moves beyond classical parameters.

Oxygen is a fundamental factor to manage as it is capable of regulating yeast growth rates through the biosynthesis of sterols and fatty acids, keeping cells viable throughout the entire fermentation process.

When oxygen is deficient or absent during alcoholic fermentation, yeast metabolism becomes inefficient, often leading to sluggish or stuck fermentations and the formation of sensory defects (see Figure 1).

Ensuring adequate oxygen availability during alcoholic fermentation not only supports a healthier fermentative metabolism but also significantly reduces the formation of off-flavors and undesirable sulfur compounds.

Oxygen supply during alcoholic fermentation should therefore be considered an essential nutrient for yeast metabolism.

This perspective has led to the development of the YNR (Yeast Nutritional Requirements) model, a new reference framework for managing yeast nutrition in the presence of oxygen:

YEAST NUTRITIONAL REQUIREMENTS YNR = Ninorganic + Norganic + O2

The YNR model is based on an understanding of yeast requirements at each stage of fermentation. Unlike a static approach, this model simultaneously considers fixed factors—such as yeast strain and winemaking objective—as well as dynamic factors including temperature, density, pH, YAN, turbidity, and fermentation kinetics.

Nutrition thus becomes a true process variable, fully controllable and measurable, that guides the winemaker’s work throughout the entire fermentation phase.

Precise nutritional management enhances fermentation quality by optimizing yeast performance and guiding yeast metabolism toward the desired wine style. This approach ensures consistency, prevents fermentation stalling, and promotes a more clearly defined aromatic profile. The result is enhanced control, improved aromatic definition, and greater production sustainability. Nutrition is not only a technical support but a strategic tool in defining the desired wine style and managing fermentation.

Winegrid sensors enable real-time monitoring of key wine parameters throughout all stages. By continuously measuring density, temperature, and fermentation kinetics, it provides precise insight into the wine’s evolution, promptly identifying critical moments and deviations from optimal fermentation behavior. The process thus becomes manageable and easily interpretable.

Parsec, thanks to its EVO2Ferm system, converts real-time data into intelligent interpretations, using advanced algorithms and control systems to enable adaptive, precise, and automated interventions directly in the winery. This autonomous dosing system interprets data and translates it into measured nutritional interventions. EVO2Ferm manages the controlled supply of organic nitrogen (Norganic), inorganic nitrogen (Ninorganic), and oxygen (O2), optimizing yeast metabolism at every fermentation phase and improving both process efficiency and final wine quality.

Enartis completes this integrated approach by providing targeted, specific nutritional solutions developed to meet yeast metabolic needs and ensure safe, complete, and high-quality fermentations.

The NUTRIFERM range serves as the nutritional backbone of the integrated fermentation management system, providing yeast with a balanced supply of organic and inorganic nitrogen sources tailored to the different phases of fermentation.

Liquid nutrients such as NUTRIFERM ULTRA L and NUTRIFERM VIT L are ideal for continuous, programmable, and predictive nutrition through automatic dosing systems.

NUTRIFERM ULTRA L is a liquid organic nutrient consisting of 100% yeast autolysate with a High Nutritional Index (NRI). It provides amino acids, sterols, unsaturated fatty acids, minerals, and a high vitamin content. Together, these elements maximize metabolic activity and increase yeast resistance to stress conditions during the various stages of fermentation.

NUTRIFERM VIT L is a liquid inorganic nutrient based on diammonium phosphate (DAP) with a high availability of ammoniacal nitrogen, which is essential for yeast fermentation metabolism.

The modulated, fractionated, and progressive application of nutrients, including oxygen (Ninorganic+Norganic+O2), is enabled by real-time monitoring and automated dosing. This integrated system allows winemakers to:

• Maintain steady and predictable fermentation kinetics
• Direct yeast metabolism toward higher efficiency and desired wine style
• Prevent the formation of undesirable sulfur compounds
• Increase operational sustainability by reducing manual interventions and the risk of overdosing

In this context, nutrition is no longer just a supporting factor, but a strategic tool for managing fermentation quality, safety, and aromatic expression.

The synergy between nutrition management and process systems produces a balanced, predictive, adaptive, and high-quality approach, capable of combining efficiency, precision, and aroma enhancement.

Fermentation success depends not only on nutrient availability, but on how nutrients are managed and made available over time. Yeast nutritional requirements are strain-dependent and evolve continuously throughout fermentation.

Treating nutrition as a fixed, standardized addition limits control, while treating it as a variable parameter allows for superior precision. With the ENGINEERED & INTEGRATED WINEMAKING PROCESS, nutrition becomes a fully controlled and integrated element of the winemaking process.