Wildfires can damage crops, even when flames come nowhere near the plants. One end result may be an unpleasant flavor and smell of wine that’s made out of grapes exposed to smoke. But researchers report in ACS’ Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry that they’ve developed a strategy to lessen this smoke taint to enhance the palatability of the wine.
Volatile compounds are accountable for lots of the appealing aromas and flavors of food and beverages, including wine. These compounds come from the grapes themselves, in addition to through the fermentation and aging processes. But not all volatile compounds present in wine are desirable: Some, produced by bacteria or yeast, smell like nail polish remover, rotten eggs, burnt rubber or onions. And if grapes absorb volatile compounds from wildfires, the resulting wine can tackle a unpleasant smoky, ashy or medicinal character that compromises quality and reduces value. Producers use quite a lot of adsorbents to remove these unpleasant compounds from wine. Nevertheless, these techniques also can remove desirable constituents that contribute to the beverage’s color, bouquet and flavor. So Kerry Wilkinson and colleagues decided to research whether the volatile compounds accountable for smoke taint may very well be selectively removed with the help of molecularly imprinted polymers (MIPs).
MIPs are synthetic materials that may bind to 1 or more goal compound. The researchers hoped to make use of the polymers to fish the smoky substances out of wine, while leaving the tasty and visually appealing components in place. The team added beads fabricated from MIPS — either contained in muslin or mesh bags or floating freely within the liquid — after which used chemical evaluation, in addition to taste-testing panels of experts, members of the general public, students and staff to judge the outcomes. In some cases, the MIPs were regenerated by rinsing them after extraction to remove the smoke compounds, enabling them to be reused.
When it comes to improving the wines’ sensory characteristics and removing unpleasant volatile phenols, the researchers found that adding MIPs to wine after fermentation was more practical than adding MIPs during fermentation. As well as, regenerating the MIPs generally enhanced removal of smoke volatile compounds. Although the MIPs also adsorbed some desirable compounds related to aroma, flavor and red wine color, the researchers say the project showed that the strategy may be used successfully to cut back the perception of smoke taint.
The authors acknowledge funding and support from the Australian Government as a part of a Cooperative Research Centre Project; Wine Australia; Metabolomics South Australia, which is funded through Bioplatforms Australia Pty Ltd.; the National Collaborative Research Infrastructure Strategy; and the South Australian State Government. One writer declared a possible conflict of interest as an worker of amaea.
