Grape Pulp Fiber as Possible Fining Agents for Red Wine.

One of the biggest problems with the use of traditional fining agents is that some of them present allergenic characteristics or are not suitable for vegan consumers due to their animal origin. An alternative to these traditional proteinaceous agents could be cell walls from grape pulp. This material could be used to modify the final phenolic concentration of a wine due to its affinity for phenolic compounds. In this study, the ability of freeze-dried grape pulp fiber, rich in pulp cell walls, to act as a fining agent was analyzed in wines from three different varieties: Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah, and Monastrell. After the use of this material, the wine chromatic characteristics and total tannin concentration were analyzed by spectrophotometric and chromatographic techniques. In addition, the wines were contaminated with ochratoxin A and histamine to check whether this material could also be a tool for removing these wine contaminants. The pulp fiber presented a high capacity to retain phenolic compounds, especially tannins; however, there were differences depending on the studied wine. The largest reduction in tannin concentration after fining was observed when this material was used in Cabernet Sauvignon wines (23%), whereas for Monastrell wines the reduction was lower (18.3%) and even lower for Syrah wines (14.3%). This fining agent also reduced the anthocyanin concentration of the three red wines, although to a lesser extent than the reduction observed for tannins. A really interesting result was that the addition of this fining agent reduced the concentration of ochratoxin A by 50% in all the studied wines.

Revisiting the use of pectinases in enology: A role beyond facilitating phenolic grape extraction.

With the objective of improving both the extraction of phenolic compounds from grapes and their maintenance in the final wine, we compared the effect of favoring phenolic extraction with a pectolytic-based maceration enzyme with that of favoring both phenolic extraction and the partial elimination of the suspended material using a pectolytic-based clarification enzyme. The phenolic composition of the final wines and those adsorbed to the precipitated lees were analyzed. Both enzymes increased wine color intensity and phenolic content, but the best results were observed when the clarification enzyme was used. This enzyme generated the largest losses of phenolics bound to precipitated lees. However, this resulted in a positive effect, the precipitation of lees rich in phenolic compounds probably created a pronounced gradient of phenolic compounds from grapes to must/wine and better chromatic characteristics in the final wine, compared with the wine made using a traditional maceration enzyme.

The Influence of Hydrolytic Enzymes on Tannin Adsorption-Desorption onto Grape Cell Walls in a Wine-Like Matrix.

This study evaluates the capacity of four hydrolytic enzymes to limit the interactions between grape cell-walls and tannins and/or to favor tannin desorption. Adsorption and desorption tests were conducted by mixing a commercial seed tannin with purified skin cell-walls from Syrah grapes, in the presence or absence of hydrolytic enzymes, in a model-wine solution. The effects of the enzymes were evaluated by measuring the tannins in solution by High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) and the changes in the cell wall polysaccharide network by Comprehensive Microarray Polymer Profiling (COMPP) while the polysaccharides liberated from cell walls were analyzed by Size Exclusion Chromatography (SEC). The results showed that the enzymes limited the interaction between tannins and cell walls, especially cellulase, pectinase and xylanase, an effect associated with the cell wall structural modifications caused by the enzymes, which reduced their capacity to bind tannins. With regards to the tannin desorption process, enzymes did not play a significant role in liberating bound tannins. Those enzymes that showed the highest effect in limiting the adsorption of tannins and in disorganizing the cell wall structure, cellulase and pectinase, did not lead to a desorption of bound tannins, although they still showed a capacity of affecting cell wall structure. The results indicate that enzymes are not able to access those polysaccharides where tannins are bound, thus, they are not a useful tool for desorbing tannins from cell walls. The practical importance implications of these findings are discussed in the manuscript.

The Application of Ultrasound and Enzymes Could Be Promising Tools for Recovering Polyphenols during the Aging on Lees Process in Red Winemaking.

The final concentration of phenolic compounds in wines is usually lower than what might be expected, given their concentration in grapes. This is in part due to the interactions between cell walls from grapes and yeast with phenolics during red winemaking. Most of these aggregates are insoluble and end up precipitating, forming part of the lees. The objective of this study is to determine the capacity of ultrasounds and/or enzymes treatments (ß-glucanase and a pectolytic enzyme) to release the anthocyanins and tannins adsorbed in the lees. The ultrasound (US) applied for 120 min slightly favored the extraction of anthocyanins and doubled tannin extraction. Shorter sonication times did not show any positive effect. The combination of ß-glucanase and pectolytic enzyme was always more effective in the liberation of anthocyanins (both no-acylated and acylated anthocyanins) and tannins than the enzymes acting separately. The combination of US (120 min), ß-glucanase and pectolytic enzyme showed an additive effect, increasing the extraction of phenolic compounds with respect to the individual treatments and also releasing a large quantity of low molecular weight polysaccharides, compounds of enological importance. These results of this study could be of enological interest, facilitating and accelerating the aging on lees process, through the liberation of polysaccharides and the recovery of the phenolic compounds lost during vinification.

The impact of carbohydrate-active enzymes on mediating cell wall polysaccharide-tannin interactions in a wine-like matrix.

Tannins are present in grape skins and seeds from where they are transferred into the must-wine matrix during the maceration stages of winemaking. However, tannin transfer is often incomplete. This could be due, among other reasons, to tannins becoming bound to grape cell wall polysaccharides, including soluble polymers, which are released during vinification and are present in high concentrations in the must/wine. The use of cell wall deconstructing enzymes offers the possibility of reducing these interactions, releasing more tannins into the final wine. The main aim of this study was to evaluate the optimal addition (individually, in combination or sequentially) of hydrolytic enzymes that would prevent tight polysaccharide-tannin associations. The use of comprehensive microarray polymer profiling (CoMPP) methodology provided key insights into how the enzyme treatments impacted the grape cell wall matrix and tannin binding. The results demonstrated that polygalacturonase + pectin-lyase promoted the highest release of tannins into solution.

The Role of Soluble Polysaccharides in Tannin-Cell Wall Interactions in Model Solutions and in Wines.

The interactions between tannins and soluble and insoluble cell wall components are, in part, responsible for the low quantities of tannins found in wines compared with the quantities in grapes. The use of polysaccharides to compete with cell wall components could be an interesting approach for improving the chromatic and sensory characteristics of wines. The effect of two commercial polysaccharides, pectin and mannan, on limiting tannin-cell wall interactions was studied in a model solution, measuring the concentration of tannins and polysaccharides remaining in solution after the different interactions by chromatography. The treatment was also tested in a small-scale vinification. Soluble polysaccharides were added to the must and the wines were evaluated at the end of alcoholic fermentation and after six months in the bottle. In the model solution, the commercial polysaccharides formed soluble complexes with the tannins and limited the interactions with cell wall components, with some differences between skin and seed tannins. In the case of the wines, the treatments resulted in wines with a higher color intensity and phenolic content. Sensory analysis resulted in higher scores for the wines with added polysaccharides, since the complexation of tannins with the polysaccharides increased the roundness and body of the resulting wines.