The aim of the paper was to study the effect of various activators, i.e. vitamins, mineral compounds as well as products of vegetable and microbiological origin, on the efficiency, dynamics and other biotechnological indices of rye mash fermentation and on the quality of the high wines obtained. Studies were carried out on the sweet rye mash (density 19.5 degrees Blg) brought from the agricultural distillery. It was found that the addition of calcium pentothenate to the rye mash resulted in the improvement of the high wines quality by limiting the amount of the formed aldehydes and higher alcohols and simultaneously, it had no effect on the fermentation process. Soybean flour turned out to be a good activator of fermentation and it improved the majority of biotechnological indices of the process. The only negative aspect while applying that activator was the formation of higher amounts of higher alcohols in high wines. A comparative analysis of all the variants allowed us to state that, although some activators limited the level of higher alcohols, they did not contribute to the reduction of the formed aldehydes and even caused that their amount permissible by Polish Standard was exceeded; it was observed when biotin, biotin with thiamine, magnesium sulphate and higher amounts of thiamine (above 0.1 g/dm(3) of mash) were applied. (c) 2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.