Macrowine 2021
IVES 9 IVES Conference Series 9 The valorization of wine lees as a source of mannoproteins for food and wine applications

The valorization of wine lees as a source of mannoproteins for food and wine applications

Abstract

AIM. Wine yeast lees constitute a winemaking by-product that, unlike grape skins and seeds, are not sufficiently exploited to add value to the winemaking sector, as their treatment and disposal generally represents a cost for wineries [1]. Recently, some valorization strategies proposed the integrated extraction of ethanol, polyphenols, and tartaric acid, while only a few studies investigated ways to exploit the remaining wine lees’ yeast biomass. In particular, no studies attempted the extraction of mannoproteins (MPs), yeast cell wall polysaccharides with known foaming, emulsifying and wine-stabilizing activities [2], from the wine lees’ yeast biomass. To fill this gap, this research aims at developing an efficient and food-grade method for the extraction of yeast MPs from commercial wine lees, and to test the obtained extracts as wine stabilizers, foaming agents, and food emulsifiers.

METHODS. Several protocols were studied to extract MPs from wine lees. Ultimately, commercial wine yeast lees were extracted at pH 3.4 using an autoclave-based treatment (121°C, 20 min). The obtained MPs extracts were characterized by SEC-HPLC, SDS-PAGE or CI-ELLSA [3]. The functionalities of the MPs’ extracts were tested in wine by assessing their foam-promoting ability and their stabilizing potential against protein and tartrate instabilities. Additionally, MPs extracts were tested as emulsifying and foaming agents in model food matrices. The results were compared to those obtained using commercial MPs-based products and/or MPs extracts from pure cultures of the same yeast strains.

RESULTS. Among the extraction protocols tested, the autoclave emerged as the best performing in terms of extract’s effectiveness and, therefore, it was selected for the subsequent extractions. Firstly, MPs obtained from white winemaking lees positively impacted both wine’s foaming properties (+260% height; +360% stability) and tartrate stability (-11%) compared to untreated wine samples. Conversely, the extracts were ineffective in stabilizing wine against protein haze formation [4]. Subsequently, MPs extracts obtained autoclaving red and white wine lees and tested in model food matrices showed encouraging emulsifying activity (≃55% emulsion stability) and foaming properties (stability >3h). In this case, the extract from red wine lees performed better than its analog derived from the same yeast strain grown in the laboratory, thus suggesting a possible impact of wine polyphenols in enhancing the surfactant action of MPs [5].

CONCLUSIONS

The extraction of MPs from wine lees with a simple and food-grade autoclave-based method can represent an effective valorization strategy that, if integrated with the already available techniques to recover ethanol, tartaric acid, and polyphenols, would result in a better exploitation of this by-product with a consequent improvement of the environmental and economic sustainability of the wine industry.

DOI:

Publication date: September 7, 2021

Issue: Macrowine 2021

Type: Article

Authors

Alberto De Iseppi

Department of Agronomy, Food, Natural Resources, Animals and Environment (DAFNAE), University of Padova, Italy, Andrea CURIONI1,2; Matteo MARANGON1; Giovanna LOMOLINO1; Simone VINCENZI1,2; Benoit DIVOL3

¹ Department of Agronomy, Food, Natural Resources, Animals and Environment (DAFNAE), University of Padova, Italy
² Centre for Research in Viticulture and Enology (CIRVE), Conegliano, Italy
³ South African Grape and Wine Research Institute, Stellenbosch University, South Africa

Contact the author

Keywords

wine yeast lees, by-product valorisation, mannoproteins, stability, foam, emulsion

Citation

Related articles…

Climate ethnography and wine environmental futures

Globalisation and climate change have radically transformed world wine production upsetting the established order of wine ecologies. Ecological risks and the future of traditional agricultural systems are widely debated in anthropology, but very little is understood of the particular challenges posed by climate change to viticulture which is seen by many as the canary in the coalmine of global agriculture. Moreover, wine as a globalised embedded commodity provides a particularly telling example for the study of climate change having already attracted early scientific attention. Studies of climate change in viticulture have focused primarily on the production of systematic models of adaptation and vulnerability, while the human and cultural factors, which are key to adaptation and sustainable futures, are largely missing. Climate experts have been unanimous in recognising the urgent need for a better understanding of the complex dynamics that shape how climate change is experienced and responded to by human systems. Yet this call has not yet been addressed. Climate ethnography, coined by the anthropologist Susan Crate (2011), aims to bridge this growing disjuncture between climate science and everyday life through the exploration of the social meaning of climate change. It seeks to investigate the confrontation of its social salience in different locations and under different environmental guises (Goodman 2018: 340). By understanding how wine producers make sense of the world (and the environment) and act in it, it proposes to focus on the co-production of interdisciplinary knowledge by identifying and foreshadowing problems (Goodman 2018: 342; Goodman & Marshall 2018). It seeks to offer an original, transformative and contrasted perspective to climate change scenarios by investigating human agency -individual or collective- in all its social, political and cultural diversity. An anthropological approach founded on detailed ethnographies of wine production is ideally placed to address economic, social and cultural disruptions caused by the emergence of these new environmental challenges. Indeed, the community of experts in environmental change have recently called for research that will encompass the human dimension and for more broad-based, integrated through interdisciplinarity, useful knowledge (Castree & al 2014). My paper seeks to engage with climate ethnography and discuss what it brings to the study of wine environmental futures while exploring the limitations of the anthropological environmental approach.

Environmental and viticultural practice effects on the phenolic composition of grapes: impact on wine sensory properties

Grape phenolic compounds are located in the internal layers of grape skins and seeds. They are synthesized via the phenyl-propanoid biosynthetic pathway which is modulated by both biotic and abiotic factors.

Monitoring of ripening and yield of vineyards in Nemea region using UAV

Nemea region is the largest POD zone in Greece. Agiorgitiko (Vitis vinifera L. cv.) is the most cultivated variety in Greece with significant wine potential.

Effect of oenological tannins on wine aroma before and after oxidation: a real-time study by coupling sensory (TDS) and chemical (PTR-ToF-MS) analyses

Polyphenols are important compounds involved in many chemical and sensory wine features. In winemaking, adding oenological tannins claims to have positive impacts on wine stability, protection from oxidation and aroma persistence. Polyphenols are antioxidant compounds by either scavenging reactive oxygen and nitrogen species or chelating Fe2+ ions (1). However, as tannins oxidation leads to the formation of highly reactive species (i.e. ortho-quinones), it is still unclear if they have an effective role toward oxidation of wine aromas (2). In this work, we aim at studying the effect of two commercial tannins (proanthocyanidins, ellagitannins) on red wine flavour (mainly aroma) before and after air exposition.

Aromatic profile of six different clones of Chardonnay grape berries in Minas Gerais (Brazil)

Aromas are one of the key points in food analysis since they are related to character, quality and consequently consumer acceptance. It is not different in the winery industry, where the aromatic profile is a combination of viticultural and oenological practices. Based on the development of more aromatic clones and on the potential to produce sparkling wines at Caldas, in the southern region of Minas Gerais (Brazil) (21°55´S and 46°23´W, altitude 1,100m), the aim of this work was the determination of volatile compounds in six different clones of Chardonnay grape berries to better understand which compounds add bouquet to the wine, and additionally comprehend the impacts of the edaphoclimatic and annual conditions on the improvement of grape-growing and winemaking practices.