Accurate determination of YAN before and during fermentation allows winemakers and brewers to:

• Adjust nutrient additions appropriately improving fermentation efficiency.

• Avoid fermentation problems, such as slow or excessively fast kinetics or fermentation stoppages.

• Optimize aromatic complexity, since nitrogen levels influence the production of higher alcohols, esters, and volatile sulfur compounds.

• Considerable savings in investment in the addition of nutrients.

• Control of nutrition and fertilization of vines.

Historically, many wineries have relied on the formaldehyde titration method (also known as the Sørensen method) to estimate YAN. This manual process, while still in use, has several limitations:

• It underestimates certain amino acids. It is not an exact method.

• It requires toxic reagents and manual titration, increasing variability and waste.

• Traditional methods take a long time to implement.

Enzymatic and colorimetric methods, such as PAN and Ammonia BioSystems kits, provide a faster, safer, and more accurate alternative.

These methods are highly selective and automate easily.

A study conducted with a winery demonstrated that while the Sørensen method underestimated PAN by ~20% on average, the enzymatic methods provided consistent and accurate results across a range of amino acids and concentrations.

Other advantages of using an automated enzymatic method include:

• No toxic reagents

• Low operator skills required

• Low waste generation

• Short analysis time per sample

• No interference

In the complex world of fermentation, nitrogen is not just a nutrient, it is a decision point. Whether you're trying to maximize yeast performance, fine-tune aroma profiles, or solve fermentation issues, accurate YAN measurement is key.

The days of manual titration are slowly giving way to faster, safer, and more reproducible analyses. In this shift, solutions like BioSystems’ PAN and Ammonia kits offer winemakers and brewers a clear advantage in understanding and controlling one of the most critical variables in fermentation.