Characterisation of ellagitannins in Quercus alba wood for wine ageing

Abstract

Oak wood is used for wine and spirit ageing because it transfers compounds and small amounts of oxygen to the beverage. The major ellagitannins in French oak, particularly Quercus petraea, are well described, whereas information on American oak (Quercus alba), which generally contains lower concentrations, remains limited. This preliminary study characterised ellagitannins in Q. alba wood from the Appalachian region, Missouri, and Minnesota. More than 150 seasoned and planed staves were maintained under controlled temperature and humidity, milled to particles below 1 mm and analysed for ellagitannins. Wood grain, defined as annual ring width, and density were also measured. American oak showed an ellagitannin profile broadly similar to that of French oak but at lower concentrations. Castalagin was the main compound, representing approximately 40 % of total ellagitannins, followed by vescalagin (20 %), roburins (almost 38 %), and grandinin. Ellagic acid content was four times greater than gallic acid content. Castalagin and vescalagin together accounted for nearly 60 % of ellagitannins in raw American oak, compared with approximately 45 % in French oak. The profiles also varied significantly with geographical origin. Although Q. alba contains the same principal ellagitannins as Q. petraea and Q. robur, its lower content and distinctive profile, together with origin-related variability, may influence wood properties, wine oxidation capacity and ageing potential.

References

 [1] del Alamo-Sanza, M., Asensio-Cuadrado, M., Sánchez-Gómez, R., Martínez-Gil, A. M., – Nevares, I. (2025). Role of ellagitannins and OTR of the Quercus petraea (Matt.) Liebl barrel staves for beverages aging. Food Chemistry: X, 32(July). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fochx.2025.103285 

[2] Nevares, I.; Del Alamo-Sanza, M.; Martínez-Martínez, V.; Menéndez-Miguélez, M.; Van Den Bulcke, J.; Van Acker, J. 2019. Influence of Quercus petraea Liebl. wood structure on the permeation of oxygen through wine barrel staves. Holzforschung, 73(9), 859– 870. https://doi.org/10.1515/hf-2018-0299

Acknowledgements

This work was conducted within project PID2022-139694OB-I00, funded by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation, the Spanish State Research Agency and the European Regional Development Fund (MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033/FEDER, EU). The authors thank Tonelería Intona (Spain) for supplying the American oak staves.