Acetaldehyde strongly binds to the wine preservative SO 2  and, on average, causes 50-70 mg l -1  of bound SO 2  in red and white wines, respectively. Therefore, a reduction of bound and total SO 2  concentrations necessitates knowledge of the factors that affect final acetaldehyde concentrations in wines. This study provides a comprehensive analysis of the acetaldehyde production and degradation kinetics of 26 yeast strains of oenological relevance during alcoholic fermentation in must under controlled anaerobic conditions. Saccharomyces cerevisiae and non-Saccharomyces strains displayed similar metabolic kinetics where acetaldehyde reached an initial peak value at the beginning of fermentations followed by partial reutilization. Quantitatively, the range of values obtained for non-Saccharomyces strains greatly exceeded the variability among the S. cerevisiae strains tested. Non-Saccharomyces strains of the species C. vini, H. anomala, H. uvarum, and M. pulcherrima led to low acetaldehyde residues (<10 mg l -1 ), while C. stellata, Z. bailii, and, especially, a S. pombe strain led to large residues (24-48 mg l -1 ). Acetaldehyde residues in S. cerevisiae cultures were intermediate and less dispersed (14-34 mg l -1 ). Addition of SO 2  to Chardonnay must triggered significant increases in acetaldehyde formation and residual acetaldehyde. On average, 0.33 mg of residual acetaldehyde remained per mg of SO 2  added to must, corresponding to an increase of 0.47 mg of bound SO 2  per mg of SO 2  added. This research demonstrates that certain non-Saccharomyces strains display acetaldehyde kinetics that would be suitable to reduce residual acetaldehyde, and hence, bound-SO 2  levels in grape wines. The acetaldehyde formation potential may be included as strain selection argument in view of reducing preservative SO 2  concentrations.