Metabolomics strategy for the mapping of volatile exometabolome from Saccharomyces spp. widely used in the food industry based on comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatography

Abstract

Saccharomyces spp. are widely used in the food and beverages industries. Their cellular excreted metabolites are important for general quality of products and can contribute to product differentiation. This exploratory study presents a metabolomics strategy for the comprehensive mapping of cellular metabolites of two yeast species, Saccharomyces cerevisiae and S. pastorianus (both collected in an industrial context) through a multidimensional chromatography platform. Solid-phase microextraction was used as a sample preparation method. The yeast viability, a specific technological quality parameter, was also assessed. This untargeted analysis allowed the putative identification of 525 analytes, distributed over 14 chemical families, the origin of which may be explained through the pathways network associated with yeasts metabolism. The expression of the different metabolic pathways was similar for both species, event that seems to be yeast genus dependent. Nevertheless, these species showed different growth rates, which led to statistically different metabolites content. This was the first in-depth approach that characterizes the headspace content of S. cerevisiae and S. pastorianus species cultures. The combination of a sample preparation method capable of providing released volatile metabolites directly from yeast culture headspace with comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatography was successful in uncovering a specific metabolomic pattern for each species.

Keywords: Saccharomyces; metabolomics footprinting; multidimensional gas chromatography; solid-phase microextraction; yeast.