New acacia gums fractions: how their features affect the foamability of sparkling base wines?

Abstract

When sparkling wine is served, the first attribute perceived is foam1. Bentonite is usually added to wine in order to cause particle flocculation, but this procedure also leads to a drastic loss of foamability2. Acacia gums improve the foamability of some sparkling base wines treated with bentonite3. Acacia gums are already authorized as additives in wine production4. We studied how the addition of new fractions from Acacia gums affected the wines foamability. Our work deepens the relationship between wine foamability and gums fractions properties. Eight sparkling base wines were elaborated by the traditional white winemaking method. Three of them were elaborated in three different regions from Spain: Malaga using Moscatel grapes as well as Saragossa and Tarragona (TA), both using Macabeo grapes. The other five base wines were elaborated in the French region of Champagne using Chardonnay (4) and Pinot noir (1) grapes. They were treated with bentonite, stirred and filtered. Acacia senegal (Asen) and Acacia seyal (Asey) gums were fractionated by Ion Exchange Chromatography giving two high (F1sen and F1sey) and two low (F2sen and F2sey) molar mass fractions. Fractions and sparkling base wines were deeply characterized. Four Acacia gums fractions were separately added to wines (300 mg·L-1), resulting in “supplemented CO-wines”. Based on shaking test, wine was vigorously hand-shaken in closed tubes. The foam height at 5 and every 10 seconds during 90 seconds was measured (all in triplicate). The maximum foam height was improved in 11 out of the 16 supplementations (69%) with F1 fractions, which were the fractions with high protein amount and high molar mass. F1sey and mainly F1sen showed a positive effect improving the foamability in Spanish wines. F1 fractions also increased foamability of French wines, but in a more inefficient and irregular pattern. Moreover, the differentials of foam height (ΔFH) between “supplemented CO-wines” and CO-wines enhanced significantly in all the studied wines at several moments after supplementations with F1 fractions. F2 fractions gave enhancing effect only sporadically. Adding F1sen and F1sey, the foam height showed positive Pearson correlations with, respectively, (i) polysaccharides rich in arabinose and galactose percentage and (ii) the number average molar mass of polysaccharides. But after F1 supplementations, the mannoproteins percentage in base wines affected negatively their foamability. The Proteins %, the hydrophobic score, the volumetric properties, the molar masses, the high molar mass ranges and the content of several amino acids of gums fractions affected positively the foamability in different wines, whereas it was negatively affected by the sugars %.Concluding, sparkling base wine foamabilities strongly depend on the wine and the gum fraction addition, but also on their relationship.

DOI:

Publication date: September 15, 2021

Issue: Macrowine 2021

Type: Article

Authors

Rafael Apolinar-Valiente, Thomas Salmo, Pascale Williams,  Michaël Nigen, Christian Sanchez, Thierry Doco,  Richard Marchal.

UMR-1208/IATE, Montpellier SupAgro, France.LOCA, Université de Reims, France. UMR-1083/SPO, INRAE-Montpellier, France. UMR-1208/IATE, Université Montpellier, France. UMR-1208/IATE, Université Montpellier, France. UMR-1083/SPO, INRAE-Montpellier, France. LVBE, Université de Haute-Alsace, Colmar, France.

Contact the author

Keywords

sparkling base wine; foam; acacia gums; ion exchange chromatography; macromolecules; sec-malls; biochemical properties; structural features

Citation

Related articles…

Application de l’Analyse du Cycle de Vie (ACV) à un domaine viticole

Since 1980, Château de l’Éclair has belonged to SICAREX Beaujolais and has been involved in experimentation for the Beaujolais vineyards. However, it is a commercial estate with profitability and quality constraints, which means that it has to meet the growing environmental expectations of consumers. Given the number of practices claimed to be environment-friendly, it is sometimes difficult to prioritize actions.

Smart microgrid: how to reduce costs and CO2 emissions in wineries and vineyards

The wine sector is greatly threatened by climate change, but is also one of its contributors.

Estimating bulk stomatal conductance of grapevine canopies

In response to changes in their environment, grapevines regulate transpiration using various physiological mechanisms that alter conductance of water through the soil-plant-atmosphere continuum. Expressed as bulk stomatal conductance at the canopy scale, it varies diurnally in response to changes in vapor pressure deficit and net radiation, and over the season to changes in soil water deficits and hydraulic conductivity of both soil and plant. It is necessary to characterize the response of conductance to these variables to better model how vine transpiration also responds to these variables. Furthermore, to be relevant for vineyard-scale modeling, conductance is best characterized using data collected in a vineyard setting. Applying a crop canopy energy flux model developed by Shuttleworth and Wallace, bulk stomatal conductance was estimated using measurements of individual vine sap flow, temperature and humidity within the vine canopy, and estimates of net radiation absorbed by the vine canopy. These measurements were taken on several vines in a non-irrigated vineyard in Bordeaux France, using equipment that did not interfere with ongoing vineyard operations. An inverted Penman-Monteith equation was then used to calculate bulk stomatal conductance on 15-minute intervals from July to mid-September 2020. Time-series plots show significant diurnal variation and seasonal decreases in conductance, with overall values similar to those in the literature. Global sensitivity analysis using non-parametric regression found transpiration flux and vapor pressure deficit to be the most important input variables to the calculation of bulk stomatal conductance, with absorbed net radiation and bulk boundary layer conductance being much less important. Conversely, bulk stomatal conductance was one of the most important inputs when calculating vine transpiration, further emphasizing the need for characterizing its response to environmental changes for use in vineyard water use modeling.

Publication of the 3rd edition of the OIV ampelographic descriptors

Ampelography is aimed at describing the vine according to several characteristics, such as morphology, agronomic aptitudes, technological potential, and genetics. The description of varieties and species of vitis has long been the subject of numerous scientific and technical studies by eminent specialists for a long time, which have led the OIV to publish in 1983 the “descriptor list for grape varieties and vitis species”, a milestone among the OIV worldwide recognised codes.

Comparison of the aroma profile in total and partial dealcoholisation of white and red wines by reverse osmosis

The increasing demand for low-alcohol and non-alcoholic wines has led to the development of advanced dealcoholisation techniques aimed at preserving wine quality while reducing ethanol content. Reverse osmosis is one of the most widely used membrane-based processes for the selective removal of ethanol [1].