With global climate warming, grape berries ripen too fast in warm growing regions especially in grape growing regions in western China, which in turn results in low acidity in grapes and ultimately will cause a great negative impact on the taste and quality of wine. Lachancea thermotolerans (LT) is a non-Saccharomyces yeast that can produce a high yield of lactic acid. The mixed inoculation of LT and Saccharomyces cerevisiae can effectively increase the acidity and reduce the pH of wine, thereby maintaining the microbial and color stability. In this paper, recent progress in the research and application of LT in wine fermentation is reviewed with respect to the basic physiological, biochemical and enological characteristics of LT. Furthermore, the influence of LT on the major metabolites, aroma and color of wine and the molecular mechanism of over-production of lactic acid by LT are reviewed. Finally, the commercial application of LT is outlined. This review is expected to provide a reference for further research on LT to promote its industrial application in wine production.

To investigate indigenous yeast resources and diversity in the wine producing region of Penglai, Shandong, WLN medium combined with sequencing of the D1/D2 region of the 26S rDNA was employed to isolate and identify yeasts during spontaneous fermentation of four wine grape cultivars (Chardonnay, Petit Manseng, Petit Verdot and Marselan). A total of 1090 yeast strains, spanning 18 species across 11 genera, were isolated. Petit Manseng demonstrated the lowest yeast diversity, and red grape cultivars displayed higher yeast diversity than did white grape cultivars. The typical yeast compositions at different fermentation stages exhibited both shared and distinct characteristics among grape cultivars.Saccharomyces cerevisiae, Hanseniaspora uvarum, H. vineae, and Starmerella bacillaris were identified as being shared across all four grape cultivars. Furthermore, Pichia kluyveri was found to be prevalent among all cultivars except Petit Manseng, while H. guilliermondii was uniquely shared by Chardonnay and Petit Verdot. Different strains of the same species from different grape cultivars significantly differed in their colony morphology. In terms of aroma, Marselan wine had the highest concentrations of ethyl acetate and ethyl lactate, while Petit Manseng wine was the richest in decyl acetate, butyl acetate, and isoamyl alcohol. This suggested that, besides the inherent differences in grape cultivars, the diversity of yeast strains played a significant role in shaping the distinct aromatic profiles of wine. These results indicated that the yeast resources in the wine producing region of Penglai, Shandong were highly diverse and abundant. This study provides theoretical and practical foundations for the selection of unique yeast strains from this wine producing region to enhance and shape the distinct style of wine from Penglai, Shandong.