  The population dynamics of mixed-culture and sequential-cultures in
fruit-must fermentation is a very interesting problem from both the theoretical
and technological stand point. By mixed-culture we refer to those fermentations
in which more that one strain/species are present from the beginning of the
process; and by sequential to those in which different microorganisms are added
along the process. These kinds of fermentations play a key role in industry of
fermented beverages. The mathematical models of such processes should represent
the dynamics of multiple species growing in a mixture of substrates as the
fruit must composition includes an important proportion of hexoses and
pentoses. Since the flavor is a basic aspect of beverages, and in general of
all fermented foods, it is fundamental to study the population dynamics and its
impact in the organoleptic properties, through the influence in the volatile
compound profile. The goal of this paper is to present a panorama of the
investigations of these fermentative ecosystems from a biological,
mathematical, and technological stand point.
