Determination of the Three Isomers of 2,3-Butanediol Formed by Yeasts or Lactic Acid Bacteria During Fermentation

In fermented fluids, the three isomers of 2,3-butanediol were quantitatively determined by gas chromatography using a chiral cyclodextrin column. Yeasts of the species Saccharomyces cerevisiae produced 200 to 700 mg diol of which 75% to 80% were D(-)-2,3-butanediol; the remainder was the meso-isomer. Hanseniaspora uvarum formed only 60 mg diol per liter, of which two thirds were meso-2,3-butanediol and one third D(-)-2,3-butanediol. Most strains of lactic acid bacteria of the genera Leuconostoc and Lactobacillus produced mainly meso-2,3-butanediol and some D- and L-butanediol-2,3 in the presence of pyruvate or citrate. Few strains produced only one optically active enantiomer. Wines that had undergone malolactic fermentation contained traces of L(+)-2,3-butanediol that was absent from wines without this bacterial fermentation.