Immunodetection of proteins from grapes and yeast in a white wine

The objective of this study was to analyze the origin of proteins of a Chardonnay wine. Three various polyclonal antibodies raised against must, yeast, and bacteria proteins were produced. For microorganisms, only the secreted macromolecules were used. To this end, yeast and bacteria were cultured in a model medium under conditions close to those of winemaking. Results obtained using these specific antibodies indicate that most of the wine proteins came from grapes and many of them were glycoproteins. Some proteins of this Chardonnay wine came from the yeast; they were released during the alcoholic fermentation and consisted of high molecular weight mannoproteins. In contrast, no bacteria proteins were detected in this Chardonnay wine.