Finally, after working all day, you kick up your feet and relax with a nice glass of red wine…but wait, what if you’re one of those unfortunate people who are allergic? Sure, chocolate is nice, but it just isn’t the same. Rather than mock that unfortunate part of society, researchers at the University of British Columbia have sought to make red wine less of a headache – literally.
So what causes some people to be sensitive to certain types of alcohol, particularly red wine? Well, it all stems from how the wine is made. The first part of the process is one we’re all familiar with – use yeast to ferment grapes. The second part involves using bacteria to decrease the acidity of the wine. This leads to a better-balanced product that not only tastes good, but won’t spoil as quickly. The problem is that these seemingly helpful bacteria are also troublemakers. They create a by-product called bioamines. These are compounds that can give some people symptoms ranging from migraines to vomiting – not due to overconsumption.
So what solution have these brilliant researchers come up with? They’ve created a new-and-improved strain of yeast that both ferments the wine (step one) and decreases the acidity (step two). Essentially, they cut out the bacterial “middleman” that was causing all the problems. This yeast strain has already been approved by both the FDA and Health Canada so, hopefully, wine will give people fewer headaches in the future.
To read more about this wine-improving research, click here.
I appreciate the integration of the concept of cutting out the middleman to a science article, it also makes it much easier to understand.
对红酒敏感？有新的酵母菌株来应对
Translated by carolynmou
为什么有人对某些类型的酒精敏感，尤其是红酒？这可能与红酒的制作过程有关。制酒过程的第一步，我们都很熟悉 — — 使用酵母来发酵葡萄。第二步使用细菌来降低酒的酸度，这种做法不仅口感好，而且不会让酒很快变质。问题是这些有益菌也带来了麻烦。它们会产生一种名为 生物胺的副产物，这种化合物能使人产生一些从偏头痛到呕吐等症状， — — 不是因为酒喝多了的缘故。
那么，聪明能干的研究人员有什么解决方案么？他们创造了一种改良的酵母菌株，既能酿酒 （第一步） 也能降低酒精酸度 （第二步）。研究者从根本上解决问题，将细菌的”中间人”角色去掉了，从而避免了它们产生的麻烦。这种新的酵母菌株已获美国 FDA 和加拿大卫生部认可，希望未来的葡萄酒能让人少点头痛症状。