Effects of maceration on the amino acid content of Chardonnay musts and wines

Authors

  • Ana Guitart
  • P. Hernández
  • J. Cacho

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.5073/vitis.1997.36.43-47

Keywords:

PITC amino acids, must, wine, maceration, Chardonnay, HPLC, Principal Component Analysis

Abstract

Chardonnay musts were macerated for 0, 6, 12, and 18 h and wines analyzed immediately after fermentation and at 6 months of bottle ageing. Maceration implies an increase of the amino acid content in the must immediately after fermentation and in the final wine. Wines from macerated musts have significantly higher levels of gamma-amino butiric acid, serine, glycine, histidine and alanine than wines from non-macerated musts. The content of these amino acids could help to examine whether there has been a maceration process or not.
Must macerated for 6 h is characterized by higher contents of almost all amino acids. The only exceptions were glycine and glutamine. It is concluded that the optimum maceration time for Chardonnay must is 6 h when a maximum amino acid content is reached. After 6 months the amino acid concentrations in bottled wines were higher than in wines shortly after fermentation. Obviously the final equilibrium of amino acids had not been reached and during bottle ageing amino acids continued to be set free into the medium from yeast cells or their autolysis. During this time wines tend to reach a similar amino acid concentration independent of the maceration time of their respective musts.

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Published

2015-08-06

Issue

Vol. 36 No. 1 (1997): Vitis

Section

Article

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