terclim by ICS banner
IVES 9 IVES Conference Series 9 ASSESSING THE ROLE OF 27 KNOWN BITTER COMPOUNDS IN COMMERCIAL WHITE WINES COMBINING LC-MS QUANTIFICATION AND SENSORY ANALYSIS

ASSESSING THE ROLE OF 27 KNOWN BITTER COMPOUNDS IN COMMERCIAL WHITE WINES COMBINING LC-MS QUANTIFICATION AND SENSORY ANALYSIS

Abstract

The balance between the different flavours of a wine largely determines its perception and appreciation by the consumers. In white wines, sweetness and sourness are usually the two poles balancing the taste properties. The bitter flavour, on the other hand, is frequently associated with a loss of equilibrium and all white wines (dry and sweet, young and aged) are affected.

Several bitter compounds are already well-described in wines. Some are linked to microorganisms as acrolein (Bauer et al., 2010) or oak wood, for example lyoniresinol (Cretin et al., 2015), while others come directly from grapes: mostly phenolic (Hufnagel and Hofmann, 2008) and nitrogen compounds (Roudot-Algaron, 1996). Furthermore, the enhancing role played by ethanol has also been well established (Cretin et al., 2018). The present study aims to determine the influence of twenty-seven known bitter compounds on the taste of various commercial white wines.

Thirty wines have been selected and submitted to sensory analysis by a trained panel. The various intensities of sourness, sweetness and bitterness have been determined for each wine. Jointly, five quantification methods have been developed and validated using liquid chromatography coupled with high resolution mass spectrometry (UHPLC-Exactive, Orbitrap analyzer) in order to determine the amount of the selected bitter compounds.

Potential correlations between the described tastes of the wines and concentrations of bitter molecules have been assessed. For the most relevant compounds, detection thresholds have been updated using the same trained panel, enabling a better understanding of the impact of various compounds.

This study enlightens the role of already known bitter compounds in bitter wine. It is also leading the way to further research as some wine’s taste remain unexplained by the selected compounds, thus confirming the potential presence of still unknown bitter compounds.

 

1. Bauer, R., Cowan, D. A., Crouch, A., 2010. Acrolein in wine : importance of 3-hydroxypropionaldehyde and derivatives in production and detection. J. Agric. Food Chem. 58, 3243-3250.
2. Cretin, B., Sallembien, Q., Sindt, L., Daugey, N., Buffeteau, T., Waffo-Teguo, P., Dubourdieu, D., Marchal, A., 2015. How stereochemistry influences the taste of wine : Isolation, characterization and sensory evaluation of lyoniresinol stereoisomers. Analytica chimica acta. 888, 191-198.
3. Cretin, B., Dubourdieu, D., Marchal, A., 2018. Influence of ethanol content on sweetness and bitterness perception in dry wines. Food science & technology. 87, 61-66.
4. Hufnagel, J.C., Hofmann, T., 2008. Quantitative reconstruction of the nonvolatile sensometabolome of a red wine. J. Agric. Food Chem. 56, 9190-9199.
5. Roudot-Algaron, F., 1996. Le goût des acides aminés, des peptides et des protéines : exemple de peptides sapides dans les hydrolysats de caséines. Lait. 76, 313-348.

DOI:

Publication date: February 9, 2024

Issue: OENO Macrowine 2023

Type: Article

Authors

Tom Estier1,2 and Axel Marchal1,2

1. Univ. Bordeaux, Bordeaux INP, INRAE, OENO, UMR 1366, ISVV, F-33140 Villenave d’Ornon, France
2. Bordeaux Sciences Agro, Bordeaux INP, INRAE, OENO, UMR 1366, ISVV, F-33170 Gradignan, France

Contact the author*

Keywords

LC-MS quantification, sensory analysis, bitterness, wine

Tags

IVES Conference Series | oeno macrowine 2023 | oeno-macrowine

Citation

Related articles…

INSIGHT THE IMPACT OF GRAPE PRESSING ON MUST COMPOSITION

The pre-fermentative steps play a relevant role for the characteristics of white wine [1]. In particular, the grape pressing can affect the chemical composition and sensory profile and its optimized management leads to the desired extraction of aromas and their precursors, and phenols resulting in a balanced wine [2-4]. These aspects are important especially for must addressed to the sparkling wine as appropriate extraction of phenols is expected being dependent to grape composition, as well.

Read More

PROTEOMIC STUDY OF THE USE OF MANNOPROTEINS BY OENOCOCCUS OENI TO IMPROVE MALOLACTIC FERMENTATION

Malolactic fermentation (MLF) is a desired process to decrease acidity in wine. This fermentation, carried out mostly by Oenococcus oeni, is sometimes challenging due to the wine stress factors affecting this lactic acid bacterium. Wine is a harsh environment for microbial survival due to the presence of ethanol and the low pH, and with limited nutrients that compromise O. oeni development. This may result in slow or stuck fermentations. After the alcoholic fermentation the nutrients that remain in the medium, mainly released by yeast, can be used in a beneficial way by O. oeni during MLF.

Read More

ANTI-TRANSPIRANT MODULATION OF GRAPE RIPENING: EFFECTS ON MERLOT VINE DEVELOPMENT AND ROSÉ WINE PHENOLIC AND AROMATIC PROFILES

Climate changes are impacting viticultural regions throughout the world with temperature increases being most prevalent.1 These changes will not only impact the regions capable of growing grapes, but also
the grapes that can be grown.2 As temperatures rise the growing degree days increase and with it the sugar accumulation within the berries and subsequent alcohol levels in wine. Consequently, viticultural
practices need to be examined to decrease the levels of sugars.

Read More

IDENTIFICATION AND LEVELS OF PHENOLIC COMPOUNDS (TANINS, ANTHO-CYANS) IN RED VARIETAL WINES (PROKUPAC AND BLACK TAMJANIKA) FROM SERBIA

The phenolic compounds of red wines represent a source of numerous benefits for human health, which is why they are a constant subject of scientific research. Winemaking in Serbia has a growing economic significance, with particularly autochthonous varieties included [1]. This research identifies and quantifies phenolic compounds of Serbian red varietal wines of Prokupac and Black Tamjanika varieties. Quantification of the level of phenolics has been conducted, including molecular tannins [(+)-catechin, (-)-epicatechin, procyanidin dimers B1, B2, B3, B4], molecular anthocyanins, and the mean degree of polymerization of tannins by HPLC by UV detection, total antioxidant capacity via spectrophotometric methods and chromatic characteristics via CIELAB.

Read More

THE EFFECT OF COPPER ON THE PRODUCTION OF VARIETAL THIOLS DURING THE ALCOHOLIC FERMENTATION OF COLOMBARD AND GROS MANSENG GRAPE JUICES

Nowadays, the rapid growth of vineyards with organic practices and the use of copper as the only fun-gicide against downy mildew raises again the question of the effect of copper on varietal thiols in wine, especially 3-sulfanylhexan-1-ol (3SH) and its acetate (3SHA). A few decades ago, several works indicated that the use of copper in the vineyard had a negative effect on the content of varietal thiols in Sauvignon blanc wines [1, 2]. However, these studies only considered the concentration of the reduced form (RSH) of varietal thiols, without quantifying the oxidised ones. For this purpose, we proposed to monitor both reduced and oxidised forms of varietal thiols in wine under copper stress during alcoholic fermentation to have a more complete picture of the biological and chemical mechanisms.

Read More