USING HIGLY ABSORBENT YEAST HULLS IN WINE FOR ELIMINATING CORKED AND MUSTY TAINTS

Cork and musty taints are defects currently occurring in wine. This situation applies to all wine-growing areas and is not a new problem. In fact, the issue was raised by Georges Jacquemin in 1903 in his Modern Œnologie Treatise. Today it has been established that these alterations are not only due to cork contamination but can also come from products used in treating wood, and chlorinated products used for cleaning the winery. The molecules causing these defects are haloanisoles, and include chloroanisoles and bromoanisoles. Today, despite efforts by cork makers, and the care taken over hygiene in the winery, the taste of cork and mustiness are a serious commercial risk. Preventive measures used today, although essential, fail to eliminate these wine contaminants. Authorized and tested enological products, do not provide an adequate curative treatment. In this paper, we look at the adsorbent properties of the yeast hulls developed by DSM Food Specialties in respect the chloroanisoles (TCA, TeCA and PCA).