Macrowine 2021
IVES 9 IVES Conference Series 9 Use of chitosan as a secondary antioxidant in juices and wines

Use of chitosan as a secondary antioxidant in juices and wines

Abstract

Chitosan is a polysaccharide produced from the deacetylation of chitin extracted from crustaceous and fungi. In winemaking chitosan is mainly used in the clarification of grape juice and wine, stabilization of white wines, removal of metals and to prevent wine spoilage by undesired microorganisms. The addition of chitosan to model wine systems was able to retard browning, reduce levels of metallic ions (Fe and Cu) and to protect varietal thiols due to its antiradical activity1. The present experiment was planned in order to evaluate the use of chitosan as a secondary antioxidant at three different stages of Sauvignon blanc fermentation and winemaking. Sauvignon blanc juices from three different locations were obtained at a commercial winery in Marlborough, New Zealand. One lots of grapes was collected from a receival bin and pressed into juice with a water-bag press, and a further juice sample was collected from a commercial pressing operation. Chitosan (1 g/L, low molecular weight, 75 – 85% deacetylated) was added to the juice after pressing, after cold settling, after fermentation, or at all these stages. Controls without any chitosan additions were also prepared. The fermentation was carried out using Saccharomyces cerevisiae EC 1118, with 700 mL of juice at 15°C. Analysis by GC-MS of C6 aldehydes and alcohols in the juices revealed that the addition of chitosan to the pressed juice lowered the concentration of E-2-hexenal, a known precursor of varietal thiol 3-mercapto hexanol, loss with cold settling. The juices that had chitosan added after pressing had their potential to form 3MH and 3MHA greatly lowered (by up to 90%), in comparison to control juices, and juices to which chitosan had been added after cold settling or after fermentation. In conclusion, the addition of low molecular weight chitosan as antioxidant or clarifying agent is not advised in the initial stages of winemaking if the higher levels of varietal thiols in the final wine are desired.

1 Chinnici, F., Natali, N., & Riponi, C. (2014). Efficacy of chitosan in inhibiting the oxidation of (+)-catechin in white wine model solutions. J Agric Food Chem, 62(40), 9868-9875.

Publication date: May 17, 2024

Issue: Macrowine 2016

Type: Poster

Authors

Leandro Dias Araujo*, Bruno Fedrizzi, Paul Kilmartin, Suzanne Callerot

*University of Auckland

Contact the author

Tags

IVES Conference Series | Macrowine | Macrowine 2016

Citation

Related articles…

The impact of different yeasts and harvest time on the wine quality of Beihong and Beimei (<I>V. vinifera x V. amurensis</I>)

Beihong and Beimei are two wine cultivars from ‘Muscat Hamberg’ (V. vinifera L.) and wild V. amurensis Rupr., which were released in China in 2008. Here,two enology practices were reported. Firstly, the impact of different yeasts including D254, GRE, K1, D21 and BDX on dry wine quality of Beihong and Beimei was investigated. For Beihong, among wines fermented by all yeasts, residual sugar content was the lowest, total anthocyanin and resveratrol contents were the highest in the wine by D254. However, the wine by D254 had lower titrable acid than those by the other yeasts except BDX.

On the losses of dissolved CO2 from laser-etched champagne glasses under standard tasting conditions

Under standard champagne tasting conditions, the complex interplay between the level of dissolved CO2 found in champagne, its temperature, the glass shape, and the bubbling rate, definitely impacts champagne tasting by modifying the neuro-physico-chemical mechanisms responsible for aroma release and flavor perception. Based on theoretical principles combining heterogeneous bubble nucleation, ascending bubble dynamics and mass transfer equations, a global model is proposed (depending on various parameters of both the wine and the glass itself), which quantitatively provides the progressive losses of dissolved CO2 from laser-etched champagne glasses.

Wood from barrique: release of phenolic compounds and permeability to oxygen

Chemical and sensory changes occurring in red wine during ageing in oak barrique are due to the slow and gradual entrance of oxygen along with a release of ellagic tannin from the wood. Though oxygen can enter the cask through the bunghole, it is not clear the role of permeation through the wood staves as well as the amount of oxygen entering by permeation. The distribution of the released ellagic tannins in the wine ageing is also unknown. The oxygen passing through the bunghole may have a different wine ageing effect compared to the oxygen permeating through the wooden staves owing to the uneven ellagic tannin concentration throughout the wine.

Using elicitors in different grape varieties. Effect over their phenolic composition

Phenolic compounds are very important in crop plants and have been the subject of a large number of studies. Three main reasons can be cited for optimizing the level of phenolic compounds in crop plants: their physiological role in plants, their technological significance for food processing, and their nutritional characteristics1 Indeed, an enormous diversity of phenolic antioxidants is found in fruits and vegetables, and their presence and roles can be affected or modified by several pre- and postharvest cultural practices and/or food processing technologies (Ruiz-García et al. 2012, Goldman et al. 1999, Tudela et al. 2002). In winegrapes, the technological importance of phenolic compounds, mainly flavonoids, is well-known.

Novel contribution to the study of mouth-feel properties in wines

In general, there is a well-established lexicon related to wine aroma and taste properties; however mouth-feel-related vocabulary usually includes heterogeneous, multimodal and personalized terms. Gawel et al.
(2000) published a wheel related to mouthfeel properties of red wine. However, its use in scientific publications has been limited. The authors accepted that the approach had certain limitations as it included redundant and terms with hedonic tone and some others were absent. It is of high interest to generate a mouth-feel lexicon and finding the chemical compound or group of compounds responsible for such properties in red wine. In the present work a chemical fractionation method has been developed.