Effect of Fining with Chitosan and k-Carrageenan on Protein Stability, Macromolecular, and Phenolic Composition of White Wines
Effect of Fining with Chitosan and k-Carrageenan on Protein Stability, Macromolecular, and Phenolic Composition of White Wines
Fernanda Cosme (1,2)*, Inma Arenas (1), Miguel Ribeiro (1,3), Luís Filipe-Ribeiro (4), Rafael Vilamarim (1), Elisa Costa (1), João Siopa (1), Fernando M. Nunes (1,5)
(1) Chemistry Research Centre-Vila Real (CQ-VR) – Food and Wine Chemistry Lab, University of Trás-os-Montes and Alto Douro, Vila Real, Portugal
(2) Biology and Environment Department, University of Trás-os-Montes and Alto Douro, Vila Real, Portugal
(3) Genetics and Biotechnology Department, University of Trás-os-Montes e Alto Douro, Vila Real, Portugal
(4) Sai - Segurança Alimentar Integrada, Lda, Parque Industrial de Baltar, Rua B, Lote 18, 4585-013 Baltar, Portugal
(5) Chemistry Department, University of Trás-os-Montes and Alto Douro, Vila Real, Portugal
* fcosme@utad.pt
White wine protein instability can cause serious economic losses to the wine industry. Wine protein haze formation can occur under high temperatures, throughout storage, or through wine transportation due to the protein self-aggregation phenomena, resulting in light-dispersing particles. This instability needs to be prevented by removing the unstable proteins from the wine, usually by fining, before wine bottling. Bentonite fining is the most effective and used process to avoid protein instability in white wine. However, bentonite fining can affect wine quality, by impacting negatively wine sensory characteristics, and if used in high doses bentonite lees could comprise 5% to 20 % of the wine volume associated with poor settling and presents additional waste disposal challenges 1,2,3. Therefore, in this work, the effect of fining with sodium bentonite, calcium bentonite, fungal chitosan, and k carrageenan on the chemical composition of the macromolecular fraction, polysaccharides and proteins, phenolic compounds, chromatic characteristics, and protein stability of monovarietal white wines was studied. k-Carrageenan reduced the content of pathogen related proteins (chitinases and thaumatin-like proteins) and the wine protein instability, and it was more efficient than sodium and calcium bentonites. Fungal chitosan was unable to remove pathogen related proteins, chitinases, and/or thaumatin-like proteins, and consequently to heat stabilise the wines. Additionally, fungal chitosan reduced the concentration of wine polysaccharides by 60%. Sodium and calcium bentonite also reduced the concentration of wine polysaccharides though to a lesser amount (16% to 59%). k-Carrageenan did not affect the wine polysaccharide concentration4. It was observed, that the application of the different fining agents resulted in a significant but small decrease in the wine total phenols. Overall, the impact of these fining agents on the wine chromatic characteristics was slight. In general, k-carrageenan is appropriate for white wine protein stabilisation, having a more desired impact on the wine macromolecular fraction than the other fining agents, decreasing the quantity of the wine pathogen related proteins without affecting polysaccharide composition.
Funding: This work was funded by the project “BluEnology - Desenvolvimento de um adjuvante proteico de microalgas para uso enológico”, no. NORTE-01-0247-FEDER-047005, co-financed by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) through NORTE 2020 (North Regional Operational Program 2014/2020).
Acknowledgments: The authors acknowledge Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia (FCT-Portugal) to CQ-VR (UIDB/00616/2020 and UIDP/00616/2020), Bodegas la Caña, S.L. do Grupo Jorge Ordoñez Selections for performing the vinification process of the wines used in this study, Ceamsa, Spain, for supplying the k-carrageenan sample used in this study.
References:
[1] B. Tian, R. Harrison, J. Morton, M. Jaspers, Aust. J. Grape Wine Res. 26 (2020) 180.
[2] F. Cosme, L. Filipe-Ribeiro, F.M. Nunes, IntechOpen: London, UK, 2021.
[3] F. Cosme, C. Fernandes, T. Ribeiro, L. Filipe-Ribeiro, F.M. Nunes, Beverages 6 (2020) 19
[4] I. Arenas, M. Ribeiro, L. Filipe-Ribeiro, R. Vilamarim, E. Costa, J. Siopa, F. Cosme, F.M. Nunes, Foods 10 (2021) 608.