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Effect of pulsed electric field treatment during cold maceration and alcoholic fermentation on major red wine
Nada El Darra1, Hiba N Rajha2, Marie-Agnès Ducasse3
1Sorbonne Universités, Université de Technologie de Compiègne, Laboratoire Transformations Intégrées de la Matière Renouvelable (UTC/ESCOM, EA 4297 TIMR), Centre de Recherche Royallieu, CS 60 319, Compiègne 60 203 CEDEX, France; Beirut Arab University, Faculty of Heath Sciences, Tarik El Jedidah - Beirut, P.O. Box: 115020 Riad EL Solh 1107 2809, Lebanon.
Abstract:
This work studies the effect of pulsed electric field (PEF) treatment at moderate and high field strengths (E=0.8kV/cm & 5kV/cm) prior and during alcoholic fermentation (AF) of red grapes on improving different parameters of pre-treated extracts: pH, °Brix, colour intensity (CI), total polyphenols content (TPI) of Cabernet Sauvignon red wine. Similar trends were observed for treating grapes using moderate and high electric field strength on the enhancement of CI and TPI of the wine after AF. The application of PEF using moderate strengths at different times during cold maceration (CM) (0, 2 and 4days) was more efficient for treatment during CM. The treatment during AF showed lower extraction rate compared to treating during CM and prior to AF. Our results clearly show that the best time for applying the PEF-treatment through the red fermentation is during the CM step.

