Browning development during storage of white wines is a serious defect, with important consequences to the quality and eventually the marketability of these commodities. To date, the examinations pertaining to the clarification of factors that can affect browning were based on rather unilateral assessment, while it is generally accepted that browning depends on several compositional parameters, which render the phenomenon a particular complexity. In this view, the implementation of factorial design with respect to investigating in parallel several factors pertaining to browning development becomes imminent. Thus, the establishment of models on such a sound experimental basis is expected to provide a reliable background for more accurate and thorough evaluation, with a potential direct industrial applicability The development of browning as a function of basic compositional parameters, including phenolics, Fe3+ and SO2, was studied on the basis of white wine-like model matrices. The influence of these three factors was approached through the implementation of a 23 full factorial design and response surface methodology. The model implemented produced a satisfactory fitting of the data (R2 = 0.94, P = 0.0136). The second order equation that was extracted out of the model indicated that the concentration of the phenolic substrate is the major determinant in the onset of A420 (browning), whereas the role of either Fe3+ or SO2 was less pronounced. The outcome of the study was discussed with regard to the applicability of the model established on more complex mixtures and real matrices (white wines) (We recommend that you consult the full text of this article).

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