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Published on: December 1, 2023
Dealcoholization of wine by pervaporation
Rodrigo Cândido1, Sara C Cunha2, José O Fernandes2
1Fraunhofer Portugal AWAM, Régia Douro Park - Parque de Ciência e Tecnologia, 5000-033 Vila Real, Portugal.
Food Chemistry: X
|May 29, 2026
Summary
Pervaporation technology effectively produces low-alcohol wines by removing ethanol. Partial dealcoholization is more efficient and preserves wine aroma better than total removal.
Area of Science:
- Food Science
- Chemical Engineering
- Separation Technology
Background:
- The demand for low-alcohol wines is increasing.
- Traditional dealcoholization methods can impact wine quality.
- Pervaporation offers a potential alternative for wine processing.
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate the efficacy of pervaporation for producing low-alcohol white, red, and rosé wines.
- To optimize pervaporation operating conditions (temperature and vacuum pressure).
- To assess the impact of pervaporation on wine aroma and volatile compounds.
Main Methods:
- Lab-scale pervaporation using a dense flat-sheet polymeric composite membrane (Pervap™ 4060).
- Testing with ethanol-water mixtures to validate membrane performance.
- Optimization of temperature and vacuum pressure using white wine.
- Application of optimized conditions to partial and total dealcoholization of white, red, and rosé wines.
- Analysis of volatile organic compounds using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS).
Main Results:
- Pervaporation performance was validated with ethanol-water mixtures.
- Higher temperatures increased permeate flux but negatively affected white wine appearance.
- Partial dealcoholization (≈7.5% vol.) was more efficient and preserved more aroma compounds than total dealcoholization (≈1.0% vol.).
- Total dealcoholization resulted in low ethanol permeances and long processing times.
- Partial dealcoholization retained 20-60% of key esters in white and red wines.
Conclusions:
- Pervaporation is a promising technology for producing partially dealcoholized wines with preserved aroma.
- White and red wines are suitable candidates for pervaporation-based dealcoholization.
- Further research is needed to minimize volatile aroma compound losses during pervaporation.
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