Understanding fungal community dynamics during fermentation is important for assessing their influence on wine's phenolic content. The present study represents the first effort to explore the correlation between the autochthonous mycobiota of Maraština grapes collected from Dalmatian winegrowing sub-regions in Croatia and the phenolic composition, as well as the physicochemical parameters of wines produced through spontaneous fermentation. The metataxonomic approach revealed Metschnikowia pulcherrima, Metschnikowia fructicola and Hanseniaspora uvarum as the core mycobiota detected at the initial phase of fermentation. By contrast, Saccharomyces cerevisiae took over the dominance starting from the middle stage of fermentation. The wine's phenolic compounds were revealed by high-performance liquid chromatography, with tyrosol being the most abundant. Rhodotorula babjevae and Botrytis cinerea showed a positive correlation with p-hydroxybenzoic acid, gentisic acid, caffeic acid and cinnamic acid, while demonstrating a negative correlation with protocatechuic acid and chlorogenic acid. Heterophoma novae-verbascicola exhibited the opposite behaviour regarding the same phenolic compounds. The concentration of lactic acid was positively correlated with B. cinerea and negatively correlated with Het. novae-verbascicola. These findings serve as a foundation for in-depth investigations into the role of autochthonous grape mycobiota in phenolic transformation during spontaneous fermentation, potentially leading to the production of high-quality wines with unique terroir characteristics. Future studies should aim to explore the specific role played by individual yeast isolates in the formation of phenolic compounds.
Keywords: Maraština; Metataxonomic approach; Native mycobiota; Non-Saccharomyces yeasts; Phenolic compounds; Tyrosol.
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