Aging on lees time reduction of a Chardonnay wine by electroporation

Mannoproteins are major components of the cell wall of yeasts. Their presence in wine performs a series of beneficial effects such as the increase of tartaric stability, the improvement of body and volume sensation, the stabilization of the aromatic fraction or the agglomeration of thermolabile proteins facilitating clarification.

Generally, wines are enriched in mannoproteins during the autolysis of yeasts over aging on lees. Autolysis is characterized by being a very slow process so it takes several months to get sufficient levels of mannoproteins.

Pulsed electric fields (PEF) is a technology that causes an increase in the permeability of the cytoplasmic membrane of cells (electroporation). The release of mannoproteins during autolysis requires the degradation of the cytoplasmic membrane of the yeast so that proteolytic and glycolytic enzymes, located in the cytoplasm, degrade the cell wall. Therefore, the objective of this research was to verify if the treatment of the lees by PEAV accelerated the release of mannoproteins during the aging on lees of a Chardonnay wine.

The results obtained show the potential of the PEF technology to reduce costs and risks of microbiological alteration in the process of aging on lees.

Work presented at the Enoforum awards 2018. The paper reproduced in this video-seminar  was presented at the 11th edition of Enoforum (Zaragoza, Spain, May 31 – June 1 2018)

Annual Subscription to Infowine: The subscription – to the price of € 60,00 (VAT included) – gives unlimited access for one year to all the documents published on the website, historical archive included: Click here