Carmela Terracone

Phenolic Content and Antioxidant Activity of Primitivo Wine: Comparison among Winemaking Technologies

The aim of this study was to assess the influence of 9 winemaking technologies (traditional, delestage, saignée, delayed punching-down, addition of grape seed tannins, addition of ellagic-skin-seed tannins, heating of must-wine, cryo-maceration, and prolonged maceration) on the phenolic content and antioxidant activity of Primitivo musts and wines. Three methods for the determination of the antioxidant activity were compared: DPPH, beta-carotene bleaching assay, and ABTS. Oenological parameters and composition of the phenolic fraction of 1-y-aged wines was also determined. The addition of tannins allowed the increase of the phenolic content of musts and wines in a greater amount than the other technologies. The results concerning the antioxidant activity depended on the method applied. Concerning musts, the DPPH assay did not highlight great differences among technologies, whereas the addition of tannins allowed the obtainment of the highest antioxidant activity according to beta-carotene and ABTS assays. The wine aging determined an increase of the antioxidant activity, independently on the method applied. Wine obtained through traditional technology, saignée, and addition of tannins showed the highest antioxidant activities according to DPPH and beta-carotene. The highest correlation coefficients (0.961 and 0.932) were calculated between phenolic content and ABTS values of musts whereas the lowest values (0.413 and 0.517) were calculated between phenolic content and ABTS values of wines. Wines produced through traditional technology were the richest in anthocyanins. The addition of tannins allowed to obtain high content in monomeric anthocyanins, flavonoids, flavans reactive to vanillin, and coumaroylated malvidin and a low content in acetylated malvidin. Practical Applications: It is well known that a moderate consumption (equivalent to 2 glasses per day) of red wine is actually recommended since it appears associated with a decreased incidence of cardiovascular diseases. The mechanisms involved in this protective effect are not completely understood although they appear related to the presence of phenolic compounds. To increase the intake of these compounds without increase of the wine consumption, it is necessary to improve their extraction during maceration. This study could represent a helpful tool for wineries aimed to know the way to increase the antioxidant content of their wines, thus changing them in functional beverages and prolonging their shelf life.

Varietal differences among the phenolic profiles and antioxidant activities of seven table grape cultivars grown in the south of Italy based on chemometrics.

Seven table grape cultivars grown in Apulia region were considered: Italia, Baresana, Pizzutello, Red Globe, Michele Palieri, Crimson Seedless, and Thompson Seedless. Seeds, skins and pulps were extracted and analyzed for their phenolic profiles and antioxidant activities. The hierarchy in the phenolic contents was seeds, skins, and pulps. These results indicate that the intake of the whole berries (seeds included) must be strongly recommended. The highest phenolic contents were detected on Italia and Michele Palieri cv., respectively within the white and the red/black table grapes. Seeds gave a high contribution to the berry antioxidant activity, as they had higher phenolic content than skins and contained high quantities of proanthocyanidines, but the strongest antioxidant activity was shown by the pulp juices due to their content in hydroxycinnamyl acids. The principal component analysis applied to the phenolic composition and antioxidant activity of skins, pulps, and seeds allowed a good separation of Italia and Michele Palieri cultivars. According to the cluster analysis, cultivars were grouped into two clusters, one including Michele Palieri and the other one including Italia, Baresana, Pizzutello, and Thompson Seedless.

Effects of different vinification technologies on physical and chemical characteristics of Sauvignon blanc wines.

In order to investigate the effects of cryomaceration and reductive vinification on chemical and physical indices and on antioxidant compounds of Sauvignon blanc wines, four wine-making procedures were applied: traditional white vinification, skin cryomaceration, vinification in a reductive environment, and a combination of the last two procedures. Significant differences were highlighted by both conventional analyses and NMR spectroscopy. The strongest changes were for organic acid concentrations (tartaric, in particular) and phenolic content. Cryomaceration caused a strong precipitation of tartaric acid, which may be desired if grapes have high acidity values. Cryomaceration protected those flavans reactive with vanillin from the action of oxidative enzymes. Vinification in a reductive environment, alone or combined with a cryomaceration step, gave wines with the highest solids content and caused a greater extraction of phenolic compounds from skins compared to traditional winemaking or cryomaceration alone, due to SO(2) solubilisation. Grape oenological expression can be strongly affected by the application of the investigated wine-making procedures.

Effects of Irrigation Volume and Nitrogen Fertilization on Redglobe and Michele Palieri Table-Grape Cultivars

The effects of water management and nitrogen fertilization, on yield, quality, and sensory profile of the red table-grape cultivars Redglobe and Michele Palieri were studied. Two irrigation volumes (1000 and 2000 m3/ha) and two nitrogen levels (120 and 180 kg/ha) were imposed. The effects of these parameters were cultivar-dependent. For Redglobe, irrigation resulted in significant increases in soluble solids and titratable acidity and significant decreases in resistance to compression and resistance to penetration. Increased nitrogen fertilization level exerted a significant effect only on titratable acidity (increased) and resistance to compression (decreased). Significant interactions between the two practices were demonstrated for soluble solids, pH, and resistance to compression. For Michele Palieri, increased irrigation resulted in significant decreases in soluble solids and resistance to penetration and significant increases in resistance to compression. Higher nitrogen caused decreases in berry weight but increases in soluble solid content and resistance to mechanical stress. Significant interactive effects were highlighted on yield, cluster weight, titratable acidity, and resistance to penetration. The lack of a significant correlation between physical/chemical and sensory results indicated that the changes induced by the agricultural practices on composition and mechanical behavior of berries were not perceptible by a trained panel.

The effect of in-amphorae aging on oenological parameters, phenolic profile and volatile composition of Minutolo white wine

A wine was obtained from cryomacerated Minutolo grapes under reductive conditions and aged for 12months in glass container and in 3 types of amphorae. After aging, wines in glass containers showed the highest alcohol content, volatile acidity, dissolved oxygen, concentrations of aromatics, alcohols, and esters and by the lowest contents of enols and terpenes. They also showed the highest decrease of flavonoids, hydroxycinnamoyl tartaric acids, and procyanidins. Wines in raw amphorae showed the dramatic decrease of flavonoids and flavans reactive with vanillin. The highest antioxidant activity was exhibited by wines in engobe amphorae, while the lowest values were showed by the wines in glass containers and glazed amphorae. Caftaric acid and procyanidin B3 decreased in wine aged under glass while epicatechin mainly reduced in raw amphorae. According to the Principal Component Analysis, the wines resulted homogeneously grouped as a function of the type of container in which were aged.

Effects of different vinification technologies on physico-chemical properties and antioxidant activity of ‘Falanghina’ and ‘Bombino bianco’ wines

The present research was aimed to compare the traditional white vinification with a combined cryomaceration–vinification in reductive conditions, by evaluating their effects on chemical and physical indices and on antioxidant compounds of ‘Falanghina’ and ‘Bombino bianco’, two wine grape cultivars of southern Italy. According to the results, the two cultivars showed similar behaviour in response to the same vinification protocol. The processing conditions mainly affected physico-chemical characteristics such as titratable acidity, pH, SO2, tartaric and malic acids, phenolic concentrations, and antioxidant activity. Titratable acidity decreased with cryomaceration due to the tartrate precipitation, whereas the malic acid was greatly extracted from pulps and skins. In the reductive conditions applied, the SO2 was protected by the presence of ascorbic acid; thus, the wines exhibited higher free/total SO2 ratio. Cryomaceration combined with vinification in reductive conditions allowed a greater extraction of phenolic compounds from skins and, consequently, a greater antioxidant activity compared to the traditional winemaking. This behaviour was due to both the protection exerted by the low temperatures and the solubilisation of proanthocyanidins and flavans reactive with vanillin favoured by the high free SO2 content.

Polymeric protein formation during pasta-making with barley and semolina mixtures, and prediction of its effect on cooking behaviour and acceptability

Spaghetti were produced in a pilot plant from semolina and semolina blended with increasing amounts of barley flour. According to size exclusion high-performance liquid chromatography (SE-HPLC), barley proteins interact with semolina proteins during pasta making, forming polymers of high molecular weight. Of these, the unextractable polymeric proteins (UPP) were at significantly higher concentrations than in spaghetti made from semolina. The decrease of both S-S bonds and -SH free groups in barley semolina spaghetti, with respect to that made of semolina, suggested that polymerisation among the different classes of proteins involves a new bonding arrangement. Due to β-glucan hydrophilicity and competition with starch for water, the replacement of increasing amounts of semolina with barley flour was able to increase the optimal cooking time. The sensory properties of composite spaghetti were judged as better than the control because of the higher firmness and the lower bulkiness and stickiness of the former.

Dough rheology and bread quality of supplemented flours Reología de la masa y calidad del pan de harinas suplementadas

A commercial flour was alternatively supplemented with five enzymatic and two chemical additives. Two levels of addition were considered. The effects of additives on dough behavior and bread quality depended on the type of promoted biochemical reaction and, in some cases, were dose-dependent. Deformation energy (W) proved to be the best single predictor of the specific volume (SV) (R = 0.847) whereas the height/width ratio (HW) was better predicted by dough development time (DDT) (R = −0.619). The application of response surface regression followed by stepwise regression allowed to write two equations. The SV was greatly and positively affected by W, DDT, E (extensibility) and resistance to extensibility (R). Observed and predicted values were highly correlated (R = 0.931). The model did not allow to generalize the positive dependence of the HW ratio of the central slice on W and softening, although predicted and observed values correlated together at middle strong level (R = 0.704). Una harina comercial se suplementó con cinco aditivos enzimáticos y dos químicos. Se consideraron dos niveles de adición. Los efectos de aditivos en el comportamiento de masa y calidad de pan dependieron del tipo de reacción bioquímica estimulada y, en algunos casos, fueron dosis dependientes. La energía de deformación (W) demostró ser el mejor pronosticador de volumen específico (R = 0,847), mientras el tiempo de desarrollo de masa (R = −0,619) predijo mejor el índice de altura/anchura. La aplicación de regresión de superficie de respuesta seguida de una regresión progresiva permitió escribir dos ecuaciones. El volumen específico fue mayor y positivamente afectado por W, tiempo de desarrollo de la masa, E (extensibilidad) y Resistencia a extensibilidad (R). Los valores observados y pronosticados resultaron altamente similares (R = 0,931). El modelo no permitió la generalización de dependencia positiva del índice de altura/anchura de la rebanada central en W y suavidad, aunque los valores observados y pronosticados coincidieron en el nivel medio fuerte (R = 0,704).

Physical and Sensory Properties of Bread Enriched with Phenolic Aqueous Extracts from Vegetable Wastes

The water of the breads was replaced with phenolic aqueous extracts from chicory, cabbage, celery, fennel, olive leaf, or grape marc wastes obtained through microwave-assisted extraction. The highest phenolic concentrations were found in the grape marc and in the bread enriched with it. The highest antioxidant activity values were measured in the crust of bread produced with the grape marc extract and in the crumb of bread with olive leaf extract. Generally, the replacement of water caused significant decreases of the specific volume, the shift of the crumb colour towards redder and yellower tones, and modification of gustatory and tactile attributes.

Phenolic content, physical and sensory properties of breads made with different types of barley wort

BACKGROUND Barley wort, an intermediate product of beer brewing, is rich in phenolic compounds. The aim of this work was to evaluate the possibility of increasing the antioxidant content of bread by replacing water with three types of wort: two of them withdrawn at the end of the mashing operation during the production of a Pilsner and a Double Malt Pilsner beer respectively; the other collected at an intermediate stage of mashing of the Pilsner beer. The chemical, physical and sensory properties of the wort-added breads were compared with those of a control bread. RESULTS All three worts led to increased phenolic content, volume and specific volume of the breads and induced significant changes in 11 of 23 sensory descriptors. The highest phenolic contents were detected in breads made either with the Pilsner wort withdrawn at an intermediate stage of mashing or with the Double Malt Pilsner wort. The former also gave the highest increase in volume and specific volume but significantly reduced the scores for crunchiness, firmness and cohesiveness. The latter led to lower increases in volume and specific volume, but less significant changes in the sensory properties were associated with its use. CONCLUSION Worts can be conveniently used to increase the antioxidant content of bread. However, different types of wort can modify to different extents the physical and sensory properties of the product.