SciCombinator

The most common technique used to detect ochratoxin A (OTA) in food matrices is based on extraction, clean-up, and chromatography detection. Different clean-up cartridges, such as immunoaffinity columns (IAC), molecular imprinting polymers (MIP), Mycosep™ 229, Mycospin™, and Oasis® HLB (Hydrophilic Lipophilic balance) as solid phase extraction were tested to optimize the purification for red wine, beer, roasted coffee and chili. Recovery, reproducibility, reproducibility, limit of detection (LOD) and limit of quantification (LOQ) were calculated for each clean-up method. IAC demonstrated to be suitable for OTA analysis in wine and beer with recovery rate >90%, as well as Mycosep™ for wine and chili. On the contrary, MIP columns were the most appropriate to clean up coffee. A total of 120 samples (30 wines, 30 beers, 30 roasted coffee, 30 chili) marketed in Italy were analyzed, by applying the developed clean-up methods. Twenty-seven out of 120 samples analyzed (22.7%: two wines, five beers, eight coffees, and 12 chili) resulted positive to OTA. A higher incidence of OTA was found in chili (40.0%) more than wine (6.6%), beers (16.6%) and coffee (26.6%). Moreover, OTA concentration in chili was the highest detected, reaching 47.8 µg/kg. Furthermore, three samples (2.5%), two wines and one chili, exceeded the European threshold.

Ladybug taint (LBT) is a wine fault caused by the inadvertent incorporation of ladybeetles to the wine during the winemaking process. Harmonia axyridis, also known as the multicolored Asian lady-beetle (MALB), was the only species considered responsible for causing the taint. A second species, Coccinella septempunctata (7 Spot), has recently also been implicated. The main objectives of this study were to identify and quantify the compounds associated with ladybug taint of white and red wine from these two Coccinellidae species (Harmonia axyridis and Coccinella septempunctata), and determine the most odor-active compounds in LBT-affected wines.

In order to investigate the effects of cryomaceration and reductive vinification on chemical and physical indices and on antioxidant compounds of Sauvignon blanc wines, four wine-making procedures were applied: traditional white vinification, skin cryomaceration, vinification in a reductive environment, and a combination of the last two procedures. Significant differences were highlighted by both conventional analyses and NMR spectroscopy. The strongest changes were for organic acid concentrations (tartaric, in particular) and phenolic content. Cryomaceration caused a strong precipitation of tartaric acid, which may be desired if grapes have high acidity values. Cryomaceration protected those flavans reactive with vanillin from the action of oxidative enzymes. Vinification in a reductive environment, alone or combined with a cryomaceration step, gave wines with the highest solids content and caused a greater extraction of phenolic compounds from skins compared to traditional winemaking or cryomaceration alone, due to SO(2) solubilisation. Grape oenological expression can be strongly affected by the application of the investigated wine-making procedures.

Wine colour, phenolics and volatile fermentation-derived composition are the quintessential elements of a red wine. Many viticultural and winemaking factors contribute to wine aroma and colour with choice of yeast strain being a crucial factor. Besides the traditional Saccharomyces species S. cerevisiae, S. bayanus and several Saccharomyces interspecific hybrids are able to ferment grape juice to completion. This study examined the diversity in chemical composition, including phenolics and fermentation-derived volatile compounds, of an Australian Cabernet Sauvignon due to the use of different Saccharomyces strains. Eleven commercially available Saccharomyces strains were used in this study; S. cerevisiae (7), S. bayanus (2) and interspecific Saccharomyces hybrids (2). The eleven Cabernet Sauvignon wines varied greatly in their chemical composition. Nine yeast strains completed alcoholic fermentation in 19 days; S. bayanus AWRI 1375 in 26 days, and S. cerevisiae AWRI 1554 required 32 days. Ethanol concentrations varied in the final wines (12.7-14.2 %). The two S. bayanus strains produced the most distinct wines, with the ability to metabolise malic acid, generate high glycerol concentrations and distinctive phenolic composition. Saccharomyces hybrid AWRI 1501 and S. cerevisiae AWRI 1554 and AWRI 1493 also generated distinctive wines. This work demonstrates that the style of a Cabernet Sauvignon can be clearly modulated by choice of commercially available wine yeast.

Yan73 is a ‘teinturier’ red wine variety cultivated in China and widely used in winemaking to strengthen red wine colour. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of exogenous abscisic acid (ABA) applied to the grapevine cluster on the antioxidant capacity and phenolic content of the wine made from Yan73. Two hundred mg/l ABA was applied on Yan73 grapevine cluster during veraison. As they mature, these ABA-treated and untreated grape berries were transformed into wines, respectively, and the phenolic content and antioxidant capacity of these wines were compared. The results showed that phenolic content (total phenolics, tannins, flavonoids and anthocyanins) and antioxidant capacity were higher in the wine produced with ABA-treated Yan73 grapes than those in the wine from untreated grapes. Compared to Cabernet Sauvignon wine, Yan73 wine had higher phenolic content and stronger antioxidant capacity. These strongly suggest that exogenously applied ABA to Yan73 grapes can enhance phenolic content and antioxidant capacity of its wine, and Yan73 wine has the higher utilization value and potential for development.

Grape anthocyanins reacted with diacetyl, a secondary metabolite of microorganisms involved in winemaking, to form 10-acetyl-pyranoanthocyanins, a type of anthocyanin-derived pigments similar to other vitisin-type pyranoanthocyanins found in red wines. The structures of 10-acetyl-pyranomalvidin-3-β-O-glucoside and 10-acetyl-pyranopeonidin-3-β-O-glucoside were confirmed by spectroscopic methods (UV-vis, MS/MS, and NMR) after their synthesis and isolation. In contrast to other vitisin-type pyranoanthocyanins, the newly described 10-acetyl-pyranoanthocyanins exhibited differentiated color-related properties. They showed an important tendency to occur as colorless hemiacetals at C-10 under wine pH conditions, while co-occurrence of flavylium cation and quinoidal base yield a broad visible absorbance band around 510-520 nm. Moreover, they easily reacted with bisulfite in acidic aqueous solution (pH 2.0), but the expected bleaching was not observed. Bisulfite bonded to the carbonyl of 10-acetyl substituent instead the expected C-10 position of the pyranoanthocyanin core, thus giving rise to a red pigment hypsochromically shifted towards orangish nuances (maximum absorbances at 487-491 nm).

Wine aging is an important process to produce high-quality wines. Traditionally, wines are aged in oak barrel aging systems. However, due to the disadvantages of the traditional aging technology, such as lengthy time needed, high cost, etc., innovative aging technologies have been developed. These technologies involve aging wines using wood fragments, application of micro-oxygenation, aging on lees, or application of some physical methods. Moreover, wine bottling can be regarded as the second phase of wine aging and is essential for most wines. Each technology can benefit the aging process from different aspects. Traditional oak barrel aging technology is the oldest and widely accepted technology. The application of wood fragments and physical methods are promising in accelerating aging process artificially, while application of micro-oxygenation and lees is reliable to improve wine quality. This paper reviews recent developments of the wine aging technologies. The impacts of operational parameters of each technology on wine quality during aging are analyzed, and comparisons among these aging technologies are made. In addition, several strategies to produce high-quality wines in a short aging period are also proposed.

Chemical profiles of anthocyanin and non-anthocyanin phenolics of Cabernet Sauvignon wine made by two different winemaking techniques (traditional vinification and Ganimede method) were determined by high performance liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (HPLC-MS). Particularly, effect of extraction on and subsequent stability of the phenolic compounds from the end of fermentation to bottling were investigated. The results showed that the total anthocyanin content was higher in the young wines produced in the Ganimede fermenter. The anthocyanin contents in these wines subsequently decreased significantly after two years of ageing. By contrast, the traditional vinification was slightly better than the Ganimede to yield the non-anthocyanin phenolics. This indicates that the Ganimede fermenter might be suitable for the production of brightly coloured red wines for early consumption, which could save time and labour cost for industrial production of highquality wines.

The impact of wine pH and closure type on colour, tannin concentration and composition was investigated. A single vintage of Cabernet Sauvignon wine was divided into three batches, the pH adjusted to 3.2, 3.5 or 3.8, the wines bottled under screw caps with either SaranTin™ (ST) or Saranex™ (Sx) liners. After 24 months, the tannin concentration, tannin % yield (relating to the proportion of acid-labile interflavan bonds) and the mean degree of polymerization (mDp) had decreased significantly, all of which can contribute to the softening in wine astringency with aging. The higher pH wines contained less % (-)-epicatechin 3-O-gallate subunits, while the Sx pH 3.2 wines were significantly lower in % yield and mDp than the other wines. Overall, the tannin structure and wine colour of the lower pH wines (pH 3.2) bottled under Sx screw caps changed more rapidly with aging than those of the higher pH wines (pH 3.8) bottled under ST screw caps.

The effects of prefermentation addition of 5 exogenous tannins with different-origin anthocyanins and color characteristics were investigated in “Cabernet Sauvignon wines” at the end of alcoholic fermentation and the end of malolactic fermentation, and after 6 mo and 9 mo of bottle aging, respectively. The results showed that the application of GSKT2 could significantly retard the degradation of most anthocyanins in the process of alcoholic fermentation and the decrease of some pyranoanthocyanins during the subsequent 3 stages, thus causing more yellowness of wine in comparison with the control. Three other condensed tannins, GSKT1, QUET, and GSET, had a positive impact only on several anthocyanin components. Four condensed tannins all contributed to more redness, suggesting that the action mechanism might be to protect wine against oxidation or contribute to form copigmented anthocyanidins, or polymeric pigments. The application of FOLT (hydrolysable tannin) did not produce any influence on wine redness even after 9 mo of bottle aging. This work provides some reasons for the reasonable application of tannin additives. Practical Application:  The prefermentative application of condensed tannins overall could protect some pigment components from degradation and enhance wine redness. Tannin additives with different origins have different effectiveness. The tannin additive obtained from grape skins, like GSKT2, could produce significant promotion on both redness and yellowness in wine. The prefermentation addition of hydroxylase tannin like FOLT seems not to have a significant effect on wine color.