Alternative Methods of Acid Reduction
In many cases the most important consequence of the malolactic conversion is the reduction of acidity that brings the acid content of the wine in balance with the ethanol level. Immobilized enzymes and immobilized cell systems have been developed that can result in the conversion of malate to lactate without need to grow or cultivate the lactic acid bacteria. The yeast Schizosaccharomyces pombe can ferment malate to ethanol and use of this organism as an acid reducer in wine has likewise been explored. Commercial strains of Saccharomyces cerevisiae have been genetically constructed to convert malate to ethanol by inserting the necessary genes from S. pombe into S. cerevisiae. This strain is considered to be a GMO (genetically modified organism) because it contains alien (non-Saccharomyces) DNA.